29 March 2016

Badge of shame – NZ house prices the worst

International comparative data shows National’s refusal to address the housing crisis has resulted in house prices skyrocketing at the worst rates in the western world, Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford says.

“A Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas graph (also below) published by international news agency Bloomberg shows New Zealand had the highest house price growth in the first three-quarters of last year out of 23 developed nations. Our house prices grew a whopping 10 per cent, giving New Zealand a gold medal for housing inflation.

“International media have worked out what National won’t accept – that the Reserve Bank is between a rock and a hard place trying to control inflation without causing a housing bubble.

“National has created a generation of renters that will never be able to afford to buy a house. Far from being apologetic about locking young people out of the Kiwi dream, John Key has calculated that enough of his voters are happy to see house prices go through the roof.

“It now takes nearly half the income of a typical first home buyer to buy a lower-end home in Auckland.

“National needs to think about the half of all Kiwis who now rent, and the generation of young Kiwis who are shut out of home ownership and re-think its cynical do-nothing approach to the housing crisis.

“The Government needs to embark on a massive state-backed house building programme to flood the market with affordable homes,reform the planning rules and crack down on offshore speculators buying up our homes,” Phil Twyford says.

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