PHOTO: Nicola Willis said she does not want her children “growing up in a country where only the extremely wealthy can own a home”. Source: 1 NEWS
Calls are increasing for Government intervention in the housing market, with what Trade Me described as “staggering” interest in buying, coupled with rocketing house prices.
New Zealand’s median house price continues to soar, with Auckland hitting $1 million in October and the median house price across New Zealand increasing by 19.8 per cent, from $605,000 in October last year to $725,000, according to The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).
National’s new revenue spokesperson, Andrew Bayly, said the Government needs to “rein in” the Reserve Bank after it moved this week to roll out a Funding for Lending Programme – which intends to see reduced costs for banks with an expectation that is passed on for home loans and businesses.
“Low interest rates and the Reserve Bank’s money printing are simply adding fuel to the fire of New Zealand’s broken housing market,” Bayly said last week.
Even the Greens jumped on board, with co-leader James Shaw saying that “cheap bank loans are good for helping businesses, but lead to further skyrocketing house prices if not counter balanced by a tax on capital or wealth inflation”.
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