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Encouraging start to year with building consents up strongly in Auckland compared to a year ago

Property
Encouraging start to year with building consents up strongly in Auckland compared to a year ago

Building consents were issued for 1916 new homes in January, up 9.3% compared to January last year and up 13% compared to January 2016, according to Statistics NZ.

January is traditionally a quiet month for building consents and the lift in consents compared to previous years marked an encouraging start to the year.

On an annual basis, 31,251 consents were issued for the 12 months to January, up 3.7% compared to the same period a year earlier.

Most of the new homes consented were were stand alone houses with 1380 consented in January, along with 135 apartments, 49 retirement village units and 352 townhouses and units.

There was a particularly big increase in the number of new consents issued in Auckland, with 718 consented in the region in January, up 40% compared to January last year.

However that was still well below that average of at least 1200 new homes that need to built in Auckland each month just to keep pace with the region's explosive, migration-fuelled population growth.

There was only one month in the whole of last year (November) when the number of homes consented met or exceeded that 1200 units that are required to keep pace with demand, suggesting Auckland's housing shortage is continuing to worsen.

Within the Auckland region the area with the highest number of consents was Albany where 130 new dwellings were consented in January, followed by 106 in Manurewa-Papakura.

In other major centres the number of new dwellings consented in January was up 30% in Wellington compared to January last year and up 11% in Otago, but down in Waikato (-4%), Bay of Plenty (-26%) and Canterbury (-16%).

There was also a big jump in non-residential building consents, with consents issued for 180,000 square metres on non-residential building work in January, up 39.6% compared to January last year.

The chart below plots the number of new dwelling consents issued nationally and in each region of the country in every month since January 2000.

Building consents - residential

Select chart tabs

#issued Nationally
#issued in Northland
#issued in Auckland
#issued in the Waikato
#issued in the Bay of Plenty
#issued
#issued in Hawkes Bay
#issued
#issued
#issued in Wellington
#
# Nelson
#issued
# Westand
#issued in Canterbury
# Otago
# Southland

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71 Comments

Hawke's Bay's A1 Homes franchise collapses, liquidators contacting customers left with unfinished houses.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=120…

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Stuff reported this as the Gisborne franchise, Herald reported it as Hawkes Bay. On the A1 website there is no indication a Hawkes Bay franchise even exists!

It looks to be Hawke's Bay, Gisborne and Taupo franchises so it's quite a big mess. A month ago, this company just reported that it was rushed of its feet - yes very impressive. How impressive is this from Mansons TCLM;

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=119…

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When a homebuilding company is rushed off its feet I’d imagine their deposit take is quite high. So maybe they couldn’t resist the temptation.

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Traps to avoid for first home buyers.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=120…

First-home buyer hacks
• Consider locking in your loan, or a portion of your loan, at a fixed interest rate for a few years while interest rates are low
• Get a building and pest inspection if it's not a new property
• Research the reputation of a developer if considering a new home
• Get pre-approval for your loan
• Get a trusted family member or friend to bid on your behalf at auction
• Get suburb sales history from an independent source

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Good advice thanks mate. Only thing is, I make just over $100k a year and have a $90k deposit with a perfect credit rating, with no debt. The most the banks will lend me is $300k. What can I buy for $390K and where? I was lucky to get that, one bank offered just $250K. My rent which I am servicing well, is $540.

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Vendors desperate to sell have have to take what's offered. Find the places that you like and offer $300k. If they complain decrease your offer and then walk away. This is the time for bargains, be ruthless as the sellers want to rip you off.

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good advice. ta

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Pretty bad advice to be honest. There is no reason for someone to sell for that price as the rent would be covering the costs. Rents haven't dropped. An investor would snap up a positively priced property. It just wouldn't make sense and why aggravate the seller by offering even less? Perhaps offer a little more and say that's the best you can do then walk away if not accepted.

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“What can I buy for $390,000?”

A brand new 3 bedroom home on the outskirts of Christchurch.
https://www.trademe.co.nz/property/residential-property-for-sale/auctio…

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Around 3.5M for Victoria and 10M for Orakei I reckon. Orakei's land area is more than an acre. Nice place but you would need an army to maintain it.

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You're not too far away. 4M Vicky Ave and 12M Orakei ;-)

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#GoodBuy!
Orakei Road 3.4M above 2017 RV (39.5%)

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I'd call that Mount Eden! No idea who bought it... no idea at all, wink wink.

Google image search?

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Check the main photo on Homes.co.nz *wink wink*

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Small house. Only 155m2

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I presume 155m2 was before the extension at the back which contains the master-suite and second living.

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Neither Double G-Z, The Man 2 or any of the other property bulls on this site care about your plight General HubHub, unless you can somehow enter the market and help to prop up their own property values, you are just another potential tenant to pay their mortgages off for them and contribute to their own wealth.

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Spot on Gingerninja!! Them dudes only care about cranking the rent as high as they can. It’s a sad indictment of the ‘haves’ bludging even more from hard working, honest Kiwis....

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It's strictly business.

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So is the Mafia, according to them

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Second that!!! Truly well said!!!

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Ha ha! Nailed it in one line Pocket Ace. Like I said before when The Man 2 was sprouting on about how his lifestyle is so enviable because he is so wealthy. I am not envious of bludging landlords, they are in the same camp as muggers of little old ladies and world war 2 veterans. Instead of knives and baseball bats, they use threats of eviction and the prospect of a life on the streets, if they don’t get their tenants last hard worked for cent. And all this is encouraged and promoted in Aotearoa as a good thing. Sigh...

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This is a rather jaundiced view of landlords. I regularly struggle with property managers to stop rent rises. This is a business decision as I want to retain a good tenant. I ask my tenants about their future plans when the time comes around to refix the mortgage. I am super reluctant to ask a tenant to leave merely for the sake of selling a house and will generally wait until they leave of their own accord before making a decision to sell. I wont demand that a tenant fix for a term after the first year and will generally work around their schedule. Sometimes it is unavoidable as some tenants get very stuck in a rut and probably need someone to come in and make a decision for them.
We work within the paradigm of the current economic situation however will make allowances for tenants that exhibit an attitude of willingness to work with the landlord and not be too fussy.

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General HubHub, if you partnered up with someone similar to yourself you would have 180k deposit and be able able to borrow 600k.
For 650k all up you could have bought this rather nice place:

https://www.barfoot.co.nz/610618

In fact if you had a flatmate in this place it may be possible to do on your own. Would a flatmate pay $200 a week? The interest on 560k (650 - 90) would be $473 a week which is less than your rent of $540 a week. The extra $200 + $67 would cover capital repayment?
Really the bank should be more generous in your case.

I guess if you are partnered up and have one child or more it would be difficult.

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If I can summarise that first option, “hey, If you can’t buy a house, why not buy half a house!?”

Terrific advice

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Unfortunately with my example house you are competing against investors and working couples. Sorry, that's business!
We don't really know General HubHub's family circumstances so it's a bit tricky to work out. Could he start out buying a rental I wonder? One commenter here bought houses but never actually lived in any and continued to rent.

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..ucksake what is needed is for houses to become once again, homes for people to live in, this blasted nonsense that has gone on with them for the last few decades, reaching a crescendo this last one, absolutely has to stop!
It might be a bit painful for a little while, but best get this boil lanced and get on with the business of healing.

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Not going to happen in the Global City.

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City at arse end of the world, in a country with 4 mill with closest nations of Fiji and Australia miles away.

London, New York, Paris, LA, San Francisco, Tokyo, Hong Kong are global cities

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You can write this comment a million times but Auckland will remain a Global City.

Young people in South America aren't dreaming of living in Tokyo, Hong Kong or Paris, they're dreaming of Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne and yes even Auckland.

I was talking with a young recent arrival from South America. He said, "Even though I come from a city of four million people Auckland seems much bigger". I think that is because it is a Global City.

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Indeed, Auckland is a wonderful global city!

TTP

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Think Global Zachary https://youtu.be/cjMhA2h2cu8

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Yep partner up and keep those house prices high.

If you cant afford it on 100K and most other people cant afford it on 100K and the banks are only lending 390K and yields are rubbish then there is only one way for prices to go when cost of lending for banks increase, interest rates rise and foreign buyers are stopped from buying in NZ.

No more foreign buyers left to prop up the market, only NZers who earn pesos. Lets see where this market goes. Interesting times indeed.

As an aside, I have been looking at a particular area and property prices are historically high for that area, all above 600K, where in the past (4 years) they use to be 300K. Yesterday I saw one under 600k with vendor desperate to sell. Its only one, but as with a dam you only need one crack. Lets ee where the chips fall.

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Singles don't need to buy houses.

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"Singles dont need to buy houses." More rubbish from a ponzi creator.

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When we bought last year I was preapproved for $165000 because my wife was on maternity leave. It severely limited our options but we had a good deposit so made do with it. I earn $60k+ so serviceability isn’t an issue but the banks are held to higher lending scrutiny these days.

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Double-Gz, first home buyers should not be buying new homes.

It is crazy that they encourage first home buyers to buy new with a smaller deposit required than buying an existing home.

The path to financial stability or wealth is to do it in stages and be prepared to work.

There are so many opportunities nowadays if you are prepared to take them.

What I would suggest the young ones to do, is to tap into,the knowledge of people who have got the knowledge and have been successful at what you want to be successful at.

Pointless complaining about how tough life is when it is up to yourself to change things.

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In Auckland it costs $30-40k to sell/buy a house due to ridiculously high RE commissions. Buying and selling every few years is a mug's game. Cheaper to stretch and get something you can stay with for >5 years.

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THE MAN 2, FHB should avoid buying houses at these levels, both new and old. The door is wide open only to bigger fools - period.

Leave the cost of owning and equity erosion to the Landlord speculators. They all claim to have the financial broad shoulders to deal with anything thrown at them!

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I bought my first home new. Buying and selling/moving every few years is for idiots. People should target a house to live in for 5-10 years at least if not longer.

Property ladder nonsense should be in the same category as the "wealth effect" and just treat it as a mental illness.

Due to the high house prices people cannot realistically move shortly after buying as they need enough for a 20% deposit on their next house. Leave the poorly maintained, crappy houses in the hands of irresponsible landlords so they can hold the bag.

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The key word to success is your ability to compromise.You have to take on a flatmate or even flatmates and its doable but that is what you have to stick with for 10 years. Don't want to do it ? get a better paid job or keep renting. Its hard work for sure and you wouldn't have time to even get on this site to start complaining. So much is to do with attitude, many people just get on with it, others sit there and just say its too hard.

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So, beyond the catchy title of the article , where is the good news?

http://www.sharechat.co.nz/article/fff779ce/nz-residential-building-con…

" Today's figures show new permits for residential property rose 3.7 percent in the year ended Jan. 31 to 31,251, led by a 34 percent gain in apartment consents and a 9.8 percent gain in townhouses, flats and units. New housing permits shrank 0.6 percent in the year to 21,149, accounting for 67.7 percent of all consents, compared to 81.8 percent of all permits five years earlier. "

We are going backwards, thanks to credit restrictions, higher risk from policy uncertainty, lack of trust in the new Gov ministers' expertise and rational ...etc

So it is normal to see most building efforts girate towards Commercial building , up 40% from last year, there are more cranes in Auckland since ever ...that will suck a lot of builders and labour from building residential properties ( which have little profit left)

Well done Coalition Gov, you literally nailed it ...

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Eco Bird, you've had nine years to crow about the affordable housing crisis and yet you've said nothing to suggest the previous Government should be held responsible. The fact is, they ARE responsible.

Save any criticisms for election year 2020. By that time, should Kiwibuild underperform Nationals nine year effort of 100, even I might join you!

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Your conclusions are as simple as your resolve of things RP... 100?

The Money this Gov is dishing around was made due to National's policies in last 5 year (whether you agree with them or Not), the wealth (and its consequences) of over 650,000 households in the country is because of these policies ... No one talks about the building industry and investment confidence created by National in the last 3 or so years which added 000s of houses to the market ( again hate them or love them - its a fact) - indeed no one counts the private sector building - only RBNZ and MBEI saw yesterday that private sector building will be declining in the next few years ...

Only Labour claims what National planned to build as part of what they would build in future ( PT slipped that out once )....

here is some bedtime reading for you so, hopefully, you might put 2 and 2 together,

http://www.sharechat.co.nz/article/641d58b5/nz-consumer-confidence-rise…

"A net 40 percent said it was a good time to buy a major household item, down from 47 percent in January. Respondents expected house prices to rise 3.1 percent per year over the next two years, up from 2.9 percent the previous month, and thought prices in general would rise 3.3 percent per year over the next two years, from 3.2 percent in January."

That is not me claiming houses will rise in the next 2-3 years , this is a consumer survey where 40% still think it is a good time to buy ... a consistent expectation month after month and rising ..... I only predicted 2-5% in the next few years ...

Do you still believe that Auckland houses have gone down by $100,000 ? ... Don't get tangled in overly positive report and article titles, they are designed to fool naive people and push an agenda ... look at what is really happening on the ground if you want to seek the truth.

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You realise the 40% you quote in that article is household item, not house? 40% of people think it's a good time to buyer a dishwasher.

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Eco Bird the Nat government balanced the books by not spending any money on those unimportant things. You know, like health, infrastructure, policing, housing etc etc etc. It beggars belief that someone as clearly as smart and articulate as you, cannot see the state nine years of doing nothing has done to the very fabric of New Zealand. Even the corrupt South African ANC government under whatever their ex president’s name is, managed to do better. I saw it with my own eyes over the last 15 years going over to watch the mighty ABs beat the bokkies.

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With your comments I am glad you are not part of a government. No telling where we would end up.How do you think Labour are able to go on their spendup. Hope you are around to clean up the mess they leave behind.

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Eco Bird, you missed the mark by not separating out the Auckland component - ASB did. I believe this was also reported on interest.co.nz if you'd care to read it;

Auckland, Good time to buy a house (-4%); Nationwide (-8%)
Auckland, House prices will increase (+8%); Nationwide (20%)
https://www.asb.co.nz/documents/economic-research/housing-confidence.ht…

If anything its in ASB's interest to "talk it up" so Eco Bird, your just rummaging around for more snake oil to feed the masses. It's just plain spruiking.

Straight up, are you another Real Estate Agent?

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Are you really serious RP? ... do you really believe that a person or a group could talk "the housing market" up or down ? --- the entire media and their tails failed to do that at any given time, even during the GFC .... what is wrong with your common sense?

You assume that all buyers and sellers in the market have no brains of their own or sheeples like some on this site living in Hope and hanging to any negative straw they could find ? --

I know that you are a conspiracy theorist and think that every Bank is evil and have vested interest in talking up their business so is everyone who disagrees with your views ....You keep digging in the dirt for any negative number to prove a point ...and then get slammed with reality when actual prices are out ... I really pity you.

I will spell it out for you ( read my lips) --- No ONE can spruik the housing market, No one can influence the masses whether to buy or to sell ... No advisor, RE agent, Banks, even the RBNZ or the MSD ...some fools might try, but they always fail .... people have brains and common sense - and there are undeniable facts on the ground.

That said, and in order to satisfy you curiosity. I shall state that I am Not a RE agent nor need to be ... I have retired early from a highly technical carrier of 40 years and have few more years to reach Superannuation age .... I almost have equal investment in property and other diversified businesses to keep me comfortable and busy 24/7 ---- I do not need to talk properties up as they have been appreciating every day since I bought them about 20 years ago ... any change in property prices does not affect me as I do not intend or need to sell any of them ... Ok? I hope you feel better now , lol

So go away and do some homework, .... leave your Den ... go for some fresh air... ask around, talk to banks, REs, construction companies, developers ..and council inspectors,
attend few open homes and auctions ...etc .... see what they are up to and what is happening..... When you learn something new, then please come back and report your new discoveries. ....

Apologies will always be accepted .:)

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Eco Bird, I sense your indignation. The introduction of LVR heavily frustrated your efforts to accumulate an Auckland portfolio. What next, you searched further afield - Hamilton.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hamilton-news/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503366&o…

Many like minded individuals did the same and guess what? You've paid too much. Now there are 2700 for sale on realestate.co begging for bigger fools. There are many highly leveraged Auckland based investors starting to liquidate. If you take more than you need then chances are you will wind up with more than you can chew.

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Ahh... RP. Don't you love how all these blatantly obvious RE's like Eco Bird claim to have retired from highly technical careers. The very industry that they are destroying by sending the very basic standard of living sky high, which makes it virtually impossible for us who actually work in highly technical areas such as the IT industry to survive.

I've seen so many IT companies close their doors here in Auckland because we're finding it hard to attract and retain staff due to Auckland being far too expensive to live in!

And it not just us: https://betterdwelling.com/city/vancouver/vancouver-tech-scene-shows-ju…

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I would not be at all surprised to learn that Eco Bird may actually be a paid ponzi spruiker.

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This blatant propaganda is in the same league that the Nazis used last century. I quote Eco Bird. "No ONE can spruik the housing market, No one can influence the masses whether to buy or to sell ... No advisor, RE agent, Banks, even the RBNZ or the MSD ...some fools might try, but they always fail .... people have brains and common sense - and there are undeniable facts on the ground." I mostly ignore the rubbish Eco Bird writes but this little gem really caught my eye.

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Godwin strikes again. BTW nice to see Taxinda has bought an affordable home at 4x annual salary.

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Hitler's theory of propaganda:

"..it must present only that aspect of the truth which is favourable to its own side.."

It's not about lying it's about presenting the truth in a certain way. This is the most effective propaganda.

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Yes, a cleverly deceptive ploy that is connected with something about pants on fire.

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CJ099, how is it that an individual with a highly technical background fills storage with a thesis that could easily be a two line sentence ;-)

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And yet, can't actually spell 'career'.

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lol ,,, Paid too much ?.... wishful thinking RP, that is all you are capable of ...you mistake property investors for mugs who jumped in the market with both feet based on ill advice by some property seminars.

Digging in old media articles must make you feel great ....as if you have found Gold.

To make you feel better on this one, I actually bought 4 new units in Hamilton back in 2013 when the market started heating up ( not 2016), and guess what, they had positive rental returns since day one and have almost doubled in value since then. Timing is crucial in our business, an opportunity missed is an opportunity lost. So your suggestion is a good one, but about 5 years late ... :)..... Oh, and these units now house 4 great families who appreciate these new properties with all the mod cons and made it their home in the last 4 years or so ...knowing that these are investment properties which are not going to be sold anytime soon.

Time and again you showing that you are disconnected from the real world ... LVR or not, most 3 - 5 property investors that I know don't really need to add more to their rental portfolio ( unless they are very greedy Or are generating a lot of cash and do not trust any other investment vehicles) ... these are a small percentage of Landlords.
Updated: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/91852630/The-expensive-mistakes-…

LVR will expire soon, as it cannot remain strangling investments for ever, RBNZ knows that and will follow the Aussie example on that in due course.

take my advice RP and get some fresh air and ask around. I am sure you will be impressed of what you will learn.
Focus on the great achievements of the Labour party as they are making History by building 155 NZH houses since the great depression , which will reduce poverty and get the homeless out of the streets ... ain't that great? ... maybe they should follow this lead for more votes in 2020: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/paris-officials-sleep-out…

I also see that your cheerleaders have all picked up their trumpets and jumping up and down in joy ... repeating the same old slogans and stories ..., even picking up a spelling mistake ... well done.

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Weren't approx 40% of purchases in the Auckland market the last 1-2 years made by 'investors'?

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I wonder what Eco Bird's hard working tenants would feel (assuming she/he really has some) if they knew of the enormous amount of time their darklord spent property spruiking on this site.

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I have just studied the spread sheet that stats department issued for Building consents in January. My take is very different to the author. Auckland has consented 11073 year to January compared with 10867 December YTD. Auckland activity is steady. Wellington is still underperforming with new consents at just 1.32% increase over existing dwellings compared with the likes of Bay of Plenty which is consenting almost the same January YTD of 2464 which growing at 2.41% ie almost double the rate of Wellington. It is a worry to see Canterbury still building way more than the market can absorb creating a huge oversupply of properties for sale and for rent.

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..a huge oversupply of properties for sale and for rent.

Not a worry to buyers.....Christchurch sections are priced with a 1, house+plot with a high 3/low 4.

Eat yer hearts out, Awkland, it's Ms Market wending her wicked ways with the ol' Demand/Supply equation....

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Nice to see progress on the supply side, albeit hardly knock it out of the park stuff.
New government talked the talk regarding the demand elephant in then room – but apparently got in and then conveniently forgot about the walk, sadly hard to even discern a shuffle at the moment.
Better get moving on that otherwise I and other supporters might start to get a bit fidgety..

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Yes, if there is poor progress fixing our housing crises before the next election, I will be back to making a protest vote.

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There will be absolutely no change come next election.The problem with statistics and numbers is you can always find something positive somewhere no matter how small it is so no doubt Labour will be jumping up and down with a success story or worst case just say your doing better than National ! I mean its common knowledge that National did nothing so its hard to do worse than that !

In terms of a protest vote, have decided not to even bother voting next time for the fist time in 30 years unless something truly outstanding happens in NZ politics.

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General, I am guessing you are of a considerably younger age demographic than myself (me mid forties)and possibly in Auckland?

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