Andrew Little

Leader of the Opposition

MEDIA STATEMENT

2 August 2016

Auckland house prices double since National took office

New data released by Quotable Value today shows the cost of the average Auckland house is just $8000 short of a million dollars and has doubled since National took office in 2008, Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little says.

“The average Auckland house now costs $992,207. That’s almost precisely double the $496,081 they were in December 2008.

“Today’s numbers show that all Nick Smith’s frantic work hasn’t made the slightest bit of difference to the housing market.

“Auckland house prices went up $552 a day in the last month, and continue to accelerate. Hamilton values rose 31.5 per cent in the last year, giving it the dubious honour of having some of the fastest rising house prices in the world.

“So for all the Government’s spin and media stunts, the housing market is continuing to go off. All that has happened is that the speculators are fanning out across the country, making home ownership more unaffordable in places like the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty. The average value nationwide is now $602,434.

“Whatever Nick Smith is doing, it is plainly not working.

“Blaming Councils, begging the Reserve Bank to take action and urging first home buyers to be patient don’t amount to a housing policy.

“The Government needs to take off its ideological blinkers and build affordable homes that people can live in. It should be cracking down on property speculators, and building state houses instead of selling them off,” Andrew Little says.

ends

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