Phil Twyford
Housing spokesperson

5 February 2014

House prices keep rising despite LVRs

Figures from Barfoot and Thompson and realestate.co.nz are yet more evidence house prices are getting even further out of reach of everyday Kiwis, in spite of LVR (loan to value ratio) lending limits, says Labour's Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford.

“House sales data show prices continue to increase with speculators and the big end of town filling the void left by first home buyers, who have been shut out of the market.

“First home buyers know they are missing out on climbing the housing ladder. It is especially galling when speculators, both offshore and domestic, are making a killing.

“National’s failure to tackle the fundamentals of the housing crisis has meant that even LVRs cannot dampen the market, leaving the Reserve Bank no choice but to raise interest rates. This will only make the home ownership dream even more of a nightmare.

“Last year John Key said of LVRs: ‘I don't think that it's a tool that should be used to write a bunch of higher LVRs for rich people and lock out a whole lot of first-home buyers’. But that’s exactly what they are doing.

“National’s possum-in-the-headlights approach to housing is creating a generation of renters,” says Phil Twyford.

ENDS

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