Kiwi houses pricey, survey shows
TUESDAY , 24 JANUARY 2006
By COLIN PATTERSON
"Loony" policies are responsible for New Zealand houses being among the most unaffordable in the world, says a Christchurch researcher who co-authored an international survey on the subject.
The Demographia International Housing Affordability Study compared prices in 100 cities in six countries – Britain, Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Affordability was based on how many years of household income it would take to buy an average-sized house in each market.
Of the cities surveyed, 42 were severely unaffordable and 11 seriously unaffordable. All major New Zealand markets were in these two groups.
Hugh Pavletich of Pavletich Properties said his research showed New Zealand had some of the highest housing prices in the world.
He blamed local government for the situation. "We are mucking around with land supply. Councils are not releasing it quickly enough. This is loony tunes stuff."
He said there was plenty of land left for housing, which took up only 1 per cent of New Zealand's area.
Though there were growth pressures in many of the country's urban areas – especially Auckland – they were not responsible for housing prices.
Mr Pavletich said councils forced prices up by failing to zone sufficient land for housing, which was the case in his home city, Christchurch.
"Councils must stop strangling land supply. They must ensure there is adequate land for residential construction."
The most unaffordable market in the world is Orange County, south of Los Angeles. It is closely followed by Los Angeles and San Diego.
Sydney tops the most expensive list for Australasia, followed by Melbourne. Auckland is New Zealand's most expensive city, followed by Christchurch and Wellington.
The most affordable places to live are the American cities of Buffalo, Syracuse and Fort Wayne.
The research was conducted for Demographia, an American organisation that says it is "pro-choice with respect to urban development".
