PHOTO: PETER MEECHAM/STUFF – The council says it’s zoned for up to one million dwellings but ultimately can’t force the industry to build.

Figures by Auckland Council suggest that restrictive land use was not as big a part of the massive surge in Auckland house prices as some people have claimed.

According to the council’s chief economist David Norman and colleague Shane Martin, the median Auckland house price soared about $405,000 between 2007 and 2016.

Of that, population growth, a lack of growth in the housing stock and falling interest rates accounted for about $290,000.

“The other $115,000 is due to everything else,” Norman said.

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