Now, the facts are that for every house sold, about a quarter of them, sometimes a little bit more, about 27% are in fact first-timers. That figure has been remarkably solid over any number of years in any type of market.
Can it be expensive? Yes. Do some people miss out? Yes. Are some areas better or worse than others? Yes.
But in a world where the negative sells, if you can convince people that the young are victims, it can become very political very fast. Of course, no government can manipulate the market, and for all the governments that are promised a solution, it more often than not ends and tears.
And for every lever you pull, there is a counter reaction elsewhere, which is why it is often best to leave the market to its own devices.
Australia though is dabbling in housing as we speak. The latest scheme involves getting first buyers or first time buyers into their own place with a 5% deposit. Any first timer, any salary.
Personally, I've always liked the idea of getting, young people into housing, easier entry, the better often the real impediment, and it's true here, of course, is not the mortgage, but the down payment.
I mean, 20% of a million bucks, which is basically the equation in a lot of New Zealand is $200,000. That's a mountain for most and an insurmountable one. Even $100,000 is hard work, but what about 50? $50,000 5%, that's not hard.
Small town New Zealand, you go to a cheaper place. $600,000 house, $30,000. That's doable. That's your average Kiwi saver. Why aren't we doing that? Do you lose on housing? Really?
Is it a good long-term investment? Yes. In Australia, they kept the price to a first home type level. So for example, at the moment in Sydney, it's 1.5 million less in Melbourne, but what it will do is get more people into houses.
Do people want that? Yes, they do.
The Reserve Bank worries about a price surge, but this is being done ironically in the middle of a price surge. Australian housing is often running. The debate about affordability is raging hot, and yet the government is all for it.
And note, it's a labour government.
So what about us? Does our housing market need a boost?
Yes, it does. The first timers need a leg up, see?
What's stopping us?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
But in a world where the negative sells, if you can convince people that the young are victims, it can become very political very fast. Of course, no government can manipulate the market, and for all the governments that are promised a solution, it more often than not ends and tears.
And for every lever you pull, there is a counter reaction elsewhere, which is why it is often best to leave the market to its own devices.
Australia though is dabbling in housing as we speak. The latest scheme involves getting first buyers or first time buyers into their own place with a 5% deposit. Any first timer, any salary.
Personally, I've always liked the idea of getting, young people into housing, easier entry, the better often the real impediment, and it's true here, of course, is not the mortgage, but the down payment.
I mean, 20% of a million bucks, which is basically the equation in a lot of New Zealand is $200,000. That's a mountain for most and an insurmountable one. Even $100,000 is hard work, but what about 50? $50,000 5%, that's not hard.
Small town New Zealand, you go to a cheaper place. $600,000 house, $30,000. That's doable. That's your average Kiwi saver. Why aren't we doing that? Do you lose on housing? Really?
Is it a good long-term investment? Yes. In Australia, they kept the price to a first home type level. So for example, at the moment in Sydney, it's 1.5 million less in Melbourne, but what it will do is get more people into houses.
Do people want that? Yes, they do.
The Reserve Bank worries about a price surge, but this is being done ironically in the middle of a price surge. Australian housing is often running. The debate about affordability is raging hot, and yet the government is all for it.
And note, it's a labour government.
So what about us? Does our housing market need a boost?
Yes, it does. The first timers need a leg up, see?
What's stopping us?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
7 comments:
Don’t fall for the Aussie dream Mike! That 5% deposit just pushes up house prices massively! It’s a fallacy that just serves existing home owners.
Plus aussies have stamp duty - a tax paid by every buyer up front - which is usually another 5%. As a result aussies are much less free to move around as kkids change schools or leave the nest or folks get too old to manage big places.
The media cries poor bugger me for the youngsters over there too….me thinks the reality is that young people working in media can’t afford houses
Young first time home buyers need to lessen their expectations. In today’s world they must have every last mod con going before they will move in. It used to be that just getting a roof over one’s head to call their own was sufficient. Anything internal, including redecorating, could wait. We have become a nation of entitled twits.
"One of the Great myths of the modern economy - young people can't afford a house".
I one hundred percent agree with this. The media have been peddling this lie for decades.
Fact is - It has never been easy to buy property especially a house as an individual. I have lost count of the so-called "sob stories" where some 20-something-year-old can't afford a million plus property in an affluent area.
Many who enter the property market do so in partnership. That's why land titles have "share" or "survivorship" options.
Traditionally married couples, but other strategies include with other family EG parents or siblings. But is has to be with someone they can trust and ride along on the "risk".
Despite what the resent mob believe there is also risk.
A leg up? at what risk? RISK is the prime benchmark upon WHERE the purchaser/s can enter the market.
Always comments sections full of oldies who bought a house when they were 3x a salary - now they’re 12x a salary but it’s definitely the young people’s fault for wanting houses full of “mod cons” (I assume you’re talking about all the stuff the government tells us to have in houses like insulation, heat pumps, locally manufactured gib, etc. - hardly the fault of a 20 year old voter is it?)
The issue is for younger people that things that should be affordable like a home, a car, insurance, taxes and the like are now prohibitively expensive and out of reach where as nice to haves like phones, television, streaming and clothes are cheap and plentiful.
I hardly think the government rushing in with another fistful of cash is going to help but this kind of idea is popular and retarded so it will probably happen.
Reinstate the State Advances Corporation - long-term home loans for families with repayments capped at 30% of income.
Many of those loans were effectively "on the never-never". It is hard to deny that they were subsidised loans (oxymoronic as that may sound!).But consider the fact that most social ills occur at higher frequencies among renters than among owners - crime, substance abuse, delinquency, family breakdown, welfare dependence....... all of these cost the taxpayer lots of money. By channelling that money into home ownership for working class people, we get a better, stronger society.
Re Anonymous 10:29 am
Love to know where you get your figures.
Suspect they are just made up and you are possibly a victim of media brain washing?
Can I suggest -
Firstly, you need to get over your deep-seated resentment of anyone who might be older than yourself. There is no room for ageist bigotry.
Secondly, you need to adapt to the times. Every generation has faced different choices and opportunities. Yours is no different or special.
Make your choice quick before that chip on your shoulder and defeatist attitude defines the rest of your life.
Good luck.
To me one real issue is how to improve NZ's housing stock. Youngsters and immigrants are opposed to 'old, cold and mouldy'. Oldsters say 'wear a jersey '. Councils and central government should incentivize people to rebuild old houses. Now, old houses often are bowled and replaced with eyesores--usually in various shades of colourful grey. Read: cheap and unimaginative.
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