Statistics New Zealand has released its monthly dwelling consents data, which reveals that dwelling consents hit their highest level since the 1970s in annual terms: And this ‘boom’ has been driven by Auckland: The problem is, New Zealand’s population is around two-thirds larger than it was in the mid-1970s, and has accelerated recently driven by
Statistics New Zealand has released its labour force data for the June quarter, with the unemployment rate falling 0.3% to an 11-year low of 3.9%. Below are the key points from the release: Unemployment rate fell to 3.9% – lowest since June 2008. Underutilisation rate fell to 11.0% – lowest since September 2008. Employment rate
In August last year, New Zealand’s Labour-led coalition Government introduced legislation to amend the Overseas Investment Act to preclude foreign buyers from purchasing residential property. The legislation came as Statistics New Zealand data showed that foreign buyers had gobbled one-in-ten inner Auckland homes: In the September 2018 quarter, 9.8 percent of home transfers in Auckland inner city (Waitemata
In the September 2017 general election, the New Zealand Labour Party launched a plan to reduce immigration by 20,000 to 30,000 in a bid to relieve chronic housing and infrastructure pressures (especially around Auckland): …in recent years our population has been growing rapidly as record numbers of migrants arrive here. This has happened without the
The REINZ has released its house price data for June, which revealed a 0.3% seasonally adjusted rise in the national median house price, with prices up 1.7% year-on-year: Outside of Auckland, seasonally adjusted house prices rose by 0.4% in June, with prices up 6.5% year-on-year. Auckland’s seasonally adjusted median house price rose by 0.1% in
Statistics New Zealand has released data showing that the growth in renting households continues to dwarf the growth in owner-occupied households: The number of households renting their homes is increasing at almost twice the rate of those who own their own homes, according to the latest estimates from Statistics New Zealand. Statistics NZ estimates there
Via the RBNZ today: The Official Cash Rate (OCR) remains at 1.5 percent. Given the weaker global economic outlook and the risk of ongoing subdued domestic growth, a lower OCR may be needed over time to continue to meet our objectives. Domestic growth has slowed over the past year. While construction activity strengthened in the
By Leith van Onselen Statistics New Zealand has released national accounts figures for the March quarter of 2018, with Gross domestic product (GDP) rising by 0.6% over the quarter to be up 2.7% year-on-year. GDP per capita rose by 0.1% over the March quarter and rose by 0.9% year-on-year – the lowest annual GDP per
By Leith van Onselen The REINZ has released its house price data for May, which revealed a 0.5% seasonally adjusted fall in the national median house price, with prices up just 3.6% year-on-year: Outside of Auckland, seasonally adjusted house prices rose by 1.0% in May, with prices up 7.3% year-on-year. Looking at the major cities,
By Leith van Onselen A fortnight ago, The AFR published the following fake news: New Zealand pub owner Chris Dickson worries his staff is overworked. He expected employment visas for two new overseas workers to be approved weeks ago, but the paperwork was delayed with no clear reason given. …”We are struggling to find people,”
By Leith van Onselen The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) proposal to impose higher capital requirements on the local arms of Australian banks has been defended by John Vickers, the Bank of England’s former chief economist. He argues that the public benefit of safer banks outweighs any risks associated with such a move. Vickers
By Leith van Onselen Auckland and Sydney have much in common. Both are the largest cities in their respective nations. Both are harbour cities. Both have ridiculously expensive housing, with median dwelling values that hover near the $1 million mark. And both are the international gateways to New Zealand and Australia, and thereby attract the
By Leith van Onselen At a press conference yesterday, RBNZ Governor, Adrian Orr, publicly lashed the New Zealand Bankers’ Association (NZBA) for claiming that taxpayers should bail the sector out in the event of a crisis, and has used these comments as justification for the RBNZ’s capital reforms. From Interest.co.nz: Orr was answering a question about
By Leith van Onselen New Zealand’s Labour-led coalition government will tomorrow release the world’s first ‘wellbeing budget’, which will measure its success against how it does socially, culturally and environmentally, rather than relying on GDP – a rather useless measure that most economists and policy makers focus on. From SBS News: “Nobody wants to live
By Leith van Onselen The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has released its latest Financial Stability Report (FSR), which explained why banks need to hold more capital: Domestically, debt levels are high in the household and dairy sectors, leaving borrowers and lenders exposed to unanticipated events. Similar challenges exist globally, given current high public
Via the AFR today: New Zealand pub owner Chris Dickson worries his staff is overworked. He expected employment visas for two new overseas workers to be approved weeks ago, but the paperwork was delayed with no clear reason given. …”We are struggling to find people,” Dickson said. “It’s an epidemic.” …A plunge in net immigration
By Leith van Onselen After Labor’s shock federal election defeat, it’s fair to say that negative gearing reform is all but dead and buried in Australia. The same can’t be said for New Zealand, where the policy is nearing implementation. At the end of 2018, the Treasury and Inland Revenue released a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS)
By Leith van Onselen The REINZ has released its house price data for April, which revealed a 1.9% seasonally adjusted rise in the national median house price, with prices up just 6.3% year-on-year: Outside of Auckland, seasonally adjusted house prices rose by 1.4% in April, with prices up 7.5% year-on-year. Looking at the major cities,
By Leith van Onselen In the September 2017 general election, the New Zealand Labour Party launched a plan to reduce immigration by around a third in a bid to relieve chronic housing and infrastructure pressures (especially around Auckland): …in recent years our population has been growing rapidly as record numbers of migrants arrive here. This
By Leith van Onselen In the wake of recreational cannabis becoming legal in Canada last year, as well as nine states across the United States legalising cannabis, New Zealand will hold a referendum on legalisation during the next general election in 2020. From SBS News: The referendum will a simple Yes/No question on the basis
By Leith van Onselen Statistics New Zealand has released new data on non-resident purchases of New Zealand homes, which reveals that demand has collapsed: Home transfers to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa fell over 80 percent in the March 2019 quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago, Stats
By Leith van Onselen New Zealand will remain one of the few developed nations in the world not to have a capital gains tax (CGT), after the Labour-led Government yesterday ruled-out implementing such a measure. From Interest.co.nz: The Government will not introduce a Capital Gains Tax having failed to reach a consensus, with coalition partner
By Leith van Onselen In the September 2017 general election, the New Zealand Labour Party launched a plan to reduce immigration by around a third in a bid to relieve chronic housing and infrastructure pressures (especially around Auckland): …in recent years our population has been growing rapidly as record numbers of migrants arrive here. This
New Zealand may not have had a royal commission but it knows what it is doing when it comes to reckless Aussie banks. Via the excellent Jonathon Mott at UBS: Reserve Bank of New Zealand capital requirements larger than prior estimates Recent speeches and publications by the RBNZ suggest it remains fully committed to its Bank
By Leith van Onselen In the lead-up to, and directly following, the September 2017 New Zealand general election, I heavily praised Labour’s housing spokesman, Phil Twyford, for promising to address both supply and demand distortions via negative gearing reform, banning foreign buyers of existing homes, tighter capital gains taxes, removal of urban growth boundaries, plus
By Leith van Onselen Statistics New Zealand has released national accounts figures for the December quarter of 2018, with Gross domestic product (GDP) rising by 0.6% over the quarter to be up 2.3% year-on-year. GDP per capita rose by 0.1% over the December quarter and rose by 0.9% year-on-year – the ” lowest annual GDP
By Leith van Onselen After Statistics New Zealand in January changed the way that it measures net overseas migration (NOM), resulting in large falls in the estimated migrant intake, it has released migration estimates for January 2019, which reveals that NOM is rebounding: According to Statistics NZ: Migrant arrivals were provisionally estimated at 151,600 (±
By Leith van Onselen The REINZ has released its house price data for February, which revealed a 0.8% seasonally adjusted rise in the national median house price, with prices up just 5.5% year-on-year: Outside of Auckland, seasonally adjusted house prices rose by 1.3% in February, with prices up 8.8% year-on-year. Looking at the major cities,
By Leith van Onselen Statistics New Zealand has released dwelling consent data for the year ended January 2019, which reveals that consents have hit a 44-year high: A total of 33,576 new homes were consented in the year ended January 2019, the highest number of new homes consented in a year since early 1975, Stats
By Leith van Onselen I’ve noted previously how the New Zealand Labour Party’s promise to “build 100,000 affordable homes across the country” is shaping up as an epic failure due to: the government changing the program from “building” to “facilitating” the delivery of 100,000 affordable dwellings, meaning that NZ taxpayers would merely ‘underwrite’ many dwellings that would have been
