tmmonline.nz  |   landlords.co.nz        About Good Returns  |  Advertise  |  Contact Us  |  Terms & Conditions  |  RSS Feeds

NZ's Financial Adviser News Centre

GR Logo
Last Article Uploaded: Saturday, December 21st, 2:19PM

News

rss
Latest Headlines

House prices not ridiculous: BNZ economist

BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander has looked at key house price drivers and concluded that house prices might be exactly where they should be, contrary to sections of public opinion bemoaning them as inflated.

Monday, April 23rd 2007, 9:45AM

by The Landlord

He says migration levels will continue to drive housing demand and prices. “With high awareness that migration inflows are continuing at high levels, investors quite reasonably anticipate housing demand continuing to grow and deliver quite reasonable capital gains,” says Alexander.

Interest rates are lower and less volatile than in the past, and job security has structurally improved, the economist says. By comparison, the floating rate range from 1982 to 1992 was a terrible 8.9% to 20.5% (using monthly averages which hide the true high for many people near 23% in 1987).


Sharply rising construction costs also underpin house prices, Alexander says. “Construction costs are likely to keep rising at a rate above general inflation through requirements for greater housing energy efficiency, builder registration etc. At the same time land prices have jumped substantially assisted by council policies aimed at limiting urban sprawl.”

He says there are also other, less significant factors that have pushed prices higher. “There has been a plethora of New Zealand and foreign television programmes focusing on the fun of property renovation, purchasing and investment in recent years. Increased awareness of the property market is likely to have encouraged some people to become investors,” says Alexander.

Measures aimed at getting first-time buyers on the property ladder, Alexander says, actually boost prices rather than supply. Instead, he says, the problem should be tackled by increasing the supply of lower priced housing, reducing the cost of construction and removing other buyers from the market.

“Then again, maybe this is more about young buyers having to realise that after a lifetime (for them) of easy credit access to consumer goods and services the reality of struggling as previous generations have done is simply manifesting itself.”

He suggests first homebuyers may have to live further away from their work than they want or move to other regions. “The route toward home ownership for the easy credit generation seems logically to be buying and working in the regions,” says Alexander.

“Eventually you’ll build up enough housing equity to help fund a house purchase in a city further down the track if one wants to pursue a career in a bigger smoke.”

“And finally, maybe for this current debt-hungry generation it means cutting down on the cell phone use to limit the monthly bills, cutting foreign travel, putting off getting a modern car, plasma TV, latest gaming console, latest phone, and cutting 20 $3.50 cups of coffee a week until after the deposit is raised for a house.”


« Property investors refocus on cash flowFree Investment Property Showcase Events: Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch »

Special Offers

Commenting is closed

 

print

Printable version  

print

Email to a friend
News Bites
Latest Comments
  • The good guys get told off
    “I can't quite reconcile the rationale, or lack thereof, with the comments so far. Pathfinder were found to have made misleading...”
    1 day ago by John Milner
  • The good guys get told off
    “As a follow on to this conversation: I'm assuming that the Regulator will be consistent by 'naming and shaming' the other...”
    2 days ago by Pragmatic
  • The good guys get told off
    “FMA does not understand the consequences of these type of actions A number of Insurance Companies were taken to court and...”
    2 days ago by LNF
  • The good guys get told off
    “Superlife was censored for using unregistered salespeople however what is not commonly known was that the FMA were aware...”
    2 days ago by Patrickdiack
  • The good guys get told off
    “FMA executive director, Response and Enforcement, Louise Unger said:... Unger was appointed to that role in April of this...”
    3 days ago by Aggressively_passive
Subscribe Now

Mortgage Rates Newsletter

Daily Weekly

Previous News
Most Commented On
Mortgage Rates Table

Full Rates Table | Compare Rates

Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
AIA - Back My Build 4.94 - - -
AIA - Go Home Loans 7.49 5.79 5.49 5.59
ANZ 7.39 6.39 6.19 6.19
ANZ Blueprint to Build 7.39 - - -
ANZ Good Energy - - - 1.00
ANZ Special - 5.79 5.59 5.59
ASB Bank 7.39 5.79 5.49 5.59
ASB Better Homes Top Up - - - 1.00
Avanti Finance 7.90 - - -
Basecorp Finance 8.35 - - -
BNZ - Classic - 5.99 5.69 5.69
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
BNZ - Mortgage One 7.54 - - -
BNZ - Rapid Repay 7.54 - - -
BNZ - Std 7.44 5.79 5.59 5.69
BNZ - TotalMoney 7.54 - - -
CFML 321 Loans ▼5.80 - - -
CFML Home Loans ▼6.25 - - -
CFML Prime Loans ▼7.85 - - -
CFML Standard Loans ▼8.80 - - -
China Construction Bank - 7.09 6.75 6.49
China Construction Bank Special - - - -
Co-operative Bank - First Home Special - 5.69 - -
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 6.95 5.79 5.59 5.69
Co-operative Bank - Standard 6.95 6.29 6.09 6.19
Credit Union Auckland 7.70 - - -
First Credit Union Special - 5.99 5.89 -
First Credit Union Standard 7.69 6.69 6.39 -
Heartland Bank - Online 6.99 5.49 5.39 5.45
Heartland Bank - Reverse Mortgage - - - -
Heretaunga Building Society ▼8.15 ▼6.50 ▼6.30 -
ICBC 7.49 5.79 5.59 5.59
Kainga Ora 7.39 5.79 5.59 5.69
Kainga Ora - First Home Buyer Special - - - -
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
Kiwibank 7.25 6.69 6.49 6.49
Kiwibank - Offset 7.25 - - -
Kiwibank Special 7.25 5.79 5.59 5.69
Liberty 8.59 8.69 8.79 8.94
Nelson Building Society 7.94 5.75 5.99 -
Pepper Money Advantage 10.49 - - -
Pepper Money Easy 8.69 - - -
Pepper Money Essential 8.29 - - -
SBS Bank 7.49 6.95 6.29 6.29
SBS Bank Special - 5.89 5.49 5.69
SBS Construction lending for FHB - - - -
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
SBS FirstHome Combo 4.94 4.89 - -
SBS FirstHome Combo - - - -
SBS Unwind reverse equity ▼9.39 - - -
TSB Bank 8.19 6.49 6.39 6.39
TSB Special 7.39 5.69 5.59 5.59
Unity 7.64 5.79 5.55 -
Unity First Home Buyer special - 5.49 - -
Wairarapa Building Society 7.70 5.95 5.75 -
Westpac 7.39 6.39 6.09 6.19
Westpac Choices Everyday 7.49 - - -
Westpac Offset 7.39 - - -
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
Westpac Special - 5.79 5.49 5.59
Median 7.49 5.79 5.69 5.69

Last updated: 18 December 2024 9:46am

About Us  |  Advertise  |  Contact Us  |  Terms & Conditions  |  Privacy Policy  |  RSS Feeds  |  Letters  |  Archive  |  Toolbox  |  Disclaimer
 
Site by Web Developer and eyelovedesign.com