14 May 2015

Govt must end non-resident foreign speculators’ Auckland housing buffet

The Government needs to stop living in denial about the impact of non-resident foreign speculators on the Auckland housing market and start legislating to help New Zealanders own their own homes, the Green Party said today.

“The Reserve Bank yesterday announced that it will use the limited tools at its disposal to try to dampen the impact of domestic investors, but it doesn’t have the means to stop non-resident foreign buyers from continuing to cash in on Auckland’s overcooked housing market – that’s John Key and the Government’s job,” said Green Party housing spokesperson Kevin Hague.

“This Government’s refusal to even monitor how many homes are owned by non-resident foreign speculators, let alone stop them from doing so, shows just how clueless they are when it comes to trying to fix the Auckland housing crisis.

“Non-resident foreign buyers are treating the Auckland housing market like a restaurant buffet – they’re going back for second, third and fourth helpings, and the Government won’t stop them.

“Every house a non-resident foreign speculator snaps up is a home an Aucklander can’t own.

“These non-resident foreign buyers are doing what makes financial sense to them – they’ve found a dream housing market to which they have unregulated access and where the Government won’t even bothered to record how many homes they’ve bought.

“They use cash or they borrow money from banks that are not subject to New Zealand lending rules, including what the Reserve Bank announced yesterday.
“Non-resident foreign buyers have carte blanche in Auckland at the moment, which is pushing house prices up and keeping hardworking Kiwis from owning their own homes – and the Government is refusing to do anything about it.

“Let’s not get this issue confused: it’s the Reserve Bank’s job to put regulations in place to ensure the banking system doesn’t crumble, and that’s what they did yesterday.

“It’s the Government’s job to legislate so that New Zealanders can own their own homes, and that’s exactly what it’s not doing,” said Mr Hague.

ends

© Scoop Media