Statement follows release of house price statistics and inflation report
They say we should welcome the New Year with faith, hope, and love – but how can Kiwis be optimistic when they still face the same housing problem? In fact, the National Maori Authority has warned low-income Kiwis that they might never afford a home in New Zealand.
In a recent statement, National Maori Authority chair Matthew Tukaki said homeownership is currently impossible for most Maori and those on lower incomes unless something dramatically changes in New Zealand’s economic policy.
The statement follows the release of CoreLogic New Zealand’s (CoreLogic NZ) House Price Index (HPI), revealing that property values rose by 1.9% across the country last month, a slight increase from the 1.8% growth rate in November. Additionally, the average value of a New Zealand home now exceeds $1 million for the first time, sitting at $1,006,632.
“The reality is that homeownership for many is now confined to the dream of winning the Lotto, and if that’s what our country has come to, then [it’s] been a slow-moving train wreck going back more than a generation and spanning governments of different colours. The bare-knuckled truth is none of this is good enough, and, to be blunter, it is a human right to have access to safe and affordable housing,” Tukaki said.
Read more: CoreLogic: New Zealand property market ends 2021 on a high
Tukaki also noted that the cost of living in New Zealand continues to rise, reflecting Kalkine Media’s recent report stating that increasing inflationary pressures and the threat from the new Omicron variant are fuelling concerns around the near-term economic outlook of the country.
“We have whanau who are just scrimping by robbing Peter to pay Paul when it comes to food and power; they can’t afford to even put gas in the car, and the number who are at risk of homelessness because of unpaid rent stacking up is going through the roof,” Tukaki said.
“And when we see house prices going up, we see mortgage payment pressures coming to bear; we see rising costs of insurances which all lead to the fact that if you are renting expect to see higher rents – because as sure as night follows day those with mortgages are struggling just as much.”
And if all of those issues mentioned above were not bad enough, Tukaki revealed there are problems with building materials and those costs going up, supply issues of those same materials, and the lack of trades to build the houses needed to keep up with demand in supply.
“It was always going to happen without focused and joined-up plans – in other words, for too long in this country, we have had policies pulling in different directions, and none of it is as joined up as we need it to be,” Tukaki said.
