She expresses concern on rapidly rising house prices
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has expressed her concern about the impacts of increasing house prices on first-home buyers. However, she disputed last week’s comments made by Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson that was she “trying to bring in a capital gains tax through the back door.”
Davidson claimed last week that the Labour party had suggested that the government could expand the Bright Line Test or tax asset wealth in another way to get around Ardern’s self-imposed moratorium on a capital gains tax, according to Stuff.
However, Ardern slammed the comment and clarified that the government continues to “look for ways to encourage and support first-home buyers and try to encourage people to invest in the productive parts of the economy.”
“This idea that somehow I am trying to bring in a capital gains tax through the back door, of course, I refute. Three attempts had been made to bring in a capital gains tax, and we could not get New Zealanders on board,” Ardern said, as reported by Stuff.
Former Prime Minister John Key said house prices would most likely remain “quite strong” due to low-interest rates and migration levels. The unemployment rate was also not as alarming as expected.
He added that supplying new housing could help fix rapidly rising house prices, pointing to large amounts of land made available for house building in Christchurch after the earthquake.
“House prices did not move in Christchurch for a very long period of time,” Key said, as reported by Stuff.
