NZ Govt’s economic management keeping house rates low, increasing wage

“Latest house price figures from Quotable Value show the annual growth rate has fallen to 2.9 per cent. This compares to Statistics NZ figures showing wages grew by 3.3 per cent in the year ending December 2018.

Figures released today show that wages are rising faster than house prices, Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford says.

"Latest house price figures from Quotable Value show the annual growth rate has fallen to 2.9 per cent. This compares to Statistics NZ figures showing wages grew by 3.3 per cent in the year ending December 2018.

"This compares to 2016 when house prices rose 16 per cent and wages rose just 1.8 per cent.

"Today's figures are great news for families locked out of the homeownership and for those first home buyers currently in the market.

"Although the average house price in Auckland is now $1.05 million, prices declined by 0.9 per cent, showing our most overheated market has stabilised. Housing commentators expect the market to continue to slow.

"These figures show the Government's housing policies are beginning to work. To address housing demand, we have changed tax settings to discourage speculators and banned offshore investors buying existing houses.

"To increase housing supply, our Government is building more houses than any government has since 1978. We've built 1100 new state houses, put a total of almost 2000 households into public housing, completed 62 KiwiBuild homes and have 279 under construction.

"Our Government's sound economic management is keeping interested rates low and increasing wages," Phil Twyford said.

(With Inputs from New Zealand Government Press Release)