Infometrics chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan

PHOTO: SUPPLIED Infometrics chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan

OPINION: House prices rose almost 50 per cent during the last decade, over and above consumer price inflation.

It would be brave to expect a repeat performance over the next ten years, although we might have felt the same way looking at the market ten years ago, after the 60 per cent lift in real house prices during the 2000s.

House prices have regained some momentum in the second half of 2019 thanks to the Reserve Bank's interest rate cuts, continued tightness in the labour market, ongoing strength in net migration, and a persistent housing undersupply in some parts of the country.
CHARLOTTE CURD/STUFFHouse prices have regained some momentum in the second half of 2019 thanks to the Reserve Bank’s interest rate cuts, continued tightness in the labour market, ongoing strength in net migration, and a persistent housing undersupply in some parts of the country.

Making long-term predictions is both fraught with danger and irresponsibly easy: fraught with danger because the factors and assumptions underpinning those predictions can change wildly during an extended forecast period; and irresponsibly easy because, by the time the forecast’s accuracy can be assessed, very few people are going to remember what you said anyway.

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