While Australia spends its time ringing its hands about over-valued house prices, the Kiwis are moving ahead with a number of debates on how to fix things. As the Unconventional Economist has reported, NZ is currently debating supply-side reforms and is also advanced in its discussion of demand management as well. From Banking Day:
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has signalled it will release a discussion document by late March on new macro-prudential tools that could include increased risk weightings for mortgages or limits on loan-to-valuation ratios.
…RBNZ deputy governor Grant Spencer said in a commentary published in the Dominion Post and the New Zealand Herald that the bank is developing a framework for the use of such macro-prudential tools in consultation with the Treasury and the Finance Minister.
The RBNZ has previously said that it will consider a counter-cyclical capital buffer; higher core funding ratio; higher risk weightings for certain sectors, limits on LVRs.
Weirdly enough, we have almost exactly the same spectrum of issues here, yet no debate at all (except at MB of course).
