Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Does Chris Bishop have a point about house prices?

I'll tell you what I found interesting over the last few days it's the enormous surprise at the start, and now the debate about Chris Bishop saying it's a good thing that house prices are falling.

He was asked about this on Friday and he said, yes, it's a good thing and that we've got to decouple the idea that the New Zealand economy is driven by house prices - labelling it 'artificial wealth'.

The immediate response to that was shock that anyone could say it, but especially a National Party minister.

And now, 3 days later, there are still newspaper pieces expressing surprise that he's got away with it - in contrast to for example, Metiria Turei, who got smacked down for it, and Jacinda Ardern, who wouldn't go there.

And what's more, the surprise is that the Prime Minister has now apparently contradicted him and said, no, he does want some modest and consistent house price rises.

Look, Chris Bishop has got away with it because he's right. It is actually a good thing that house prices have come back.

It sucks. It sucks right now quite badly, doesn't it?

Cause none of us feel wealthy as our house prices drop. And it is definitely prolonging the recession because we're not spending like we normally would when our house price values increase, which makes us feel wealthy.

But it is the short-term medicine that this economy needs for improvement, because we cannot keep plowing our money into property - we should be putting it into productive investments, for example, buying shares in Pic's or whatever.

Now, I know people who are actually changing their behaviour because of what is going on with house prices.

I know a woman who earlier thought about buying an investment property, but didn't - and will put her money into shares instead because it's much of a muchness now.

To answer the question of why Chris Bishop can get away with it, when Metiria Turei got punished for it and when Jacinda Ardern wouldn't even go there for fear of public backlash - is because it is already happening.

He's not threatening to do it to us like those two birds might have. It is already happening to us.

He's actually said it before, by the way, so he is consistent.

And maybe, just maybe, enough of us have already realized that this is the pain we have to go through - as much as we hate it right now - for the sake of future generations.

And also, by the way, I like the fact that he said something that he truly believes in, rather than saying something that he might have thought we all want to hear.

Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.