High House Prices in NZ ‘A Massive Social Problem’

New Zealand’s housing affordability is getting worse, especially Nurses, teachers and other middle-class professionals are increasingly unable to buy homes in the cities where they work.
According to the Demographia report, it cost seven times the median wage to buy a house in the third quarter of last year, up from six and a half times the median wage the year before.
This survey examines 309 housing markets in eight countries, rated all eight markets in New Zealand as “severely unaffordable”.
Co-author Hugh Pavletich said, “The whole situation has moved from a crisis to a disaster.” Pavletich added high house prices were “a threat to the middle class”.
Angus Dreaver said he and his partner spent eight months looking for a house last year before giving up.
“We both work in Wellington and we ended up looking around Paekakariki/Kāpiti area but then the transport costs started to weigh out the costs of having a cheaper house.
The couple, who are in their mid-20s, earn $8000 too much to qualify for the government’s $10,000 HomeStart grant.
“It just feels like we’re kind of stuck in the middle where we are doing too well to qualify for assistance, but not well enough to actually afford a house.”
Wellington Hospital nurse Katrina Hopkinson feels lucky to own her own home, but she said many of her colleagues had no hope of getting a mortgage.
Some were leaving for Australia. Others were buying in Hutt Valley and on Kāpiti Coast, so they would not be able to get to work in the event of a disaster like a major earthquake, she said.
However, economist Shamubeel Eaqub said developers were not interested in building affordable houses or houses to rent.
The Act party’s leader, David Seymour said, “The effect of this is that even well-paid, professional Kiwis are unable to buy homes in the cities where they work. This is a serious threat to productivity, the main driver of our living standards”.
>Juthy Saha