1 September 2015

New figures show speculators rampant

New figures released by the Reserve Bank show there’s been an explosion in mortgage lending with most of the growth going to property investors, Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford says.

Reserve Bank data shows mortgage lending was up 6 per cent from a year ago – the fastest annual growth rate since October 2008 – and new mortgage lending to landlords rose $146 million to $2.002 billion in the month from June to July.

“The latest QV data shows house prices jumped 20.4 per cent in the last twelve months taking the average to $874,851, with QV pointing to property speculation as the main culprit.

“This is crazy stuff but you cannot blame the market. People are responding to the National Government’s policy which is that if you want to get rich in New Zealand become a property speculator.

“The Government’s refusal to take any serious action on either the supply or demand side of the housing crisis is reckless.

“John Key thinks that enough voters are happy their home values are rising, but he is playing a high risk game. They won’t thank him if National’s housing bubble bursts.

“And while Generation Rent is locked out of the market by runaway prices, John Key will be remembered as the man who killed the Kiwi dream of affordable home ownership.

“What is needed is a massive government-backed building programme to flood the market with affordable houses and a crackdown on speculators including a ban on non-resident foreign buyers buying existing homes,” Phil Twyford says.

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