PHOTO: ASB, which commissioned the housing confidence survey, called the results “as gloomy as it gets”. Source: Breakfast
Housing confidence has eased from a record high, but remains strong in the face of worsening affordability and the prospect of higher interest rates.
The latest quarterly ASB Housing Confidence Survey to the end of April showed a net 64 per cent of respondents expect house prices to rise, compared with a record 73 per cent in the previous survey.
ASB senior economist Mike Jones said the dip represented a “bit of a wobble”, but confidence was still the third highest in the survey’s 25-year history.
“Housing confidence joins a number of other housing indicators pointing to stubborn resistance,” Jones said.
But the headwinds were gathering for the sector, including the recent tax changes, loan to value ratios, increasing numbers of houses being built, and now the prospect of rising interest rates, he said.
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