Steven Gaskell: Waikato-Tainui’s Homeownership Scheme - Fair Deal for All or Insider Windfall?

Nothing says “equality” quite like a government-backed property giveaway — as long as you belong to the right iwi, of course. Waikato-Tainui is planning to sell 17 houses and one section to tribal members at cost, citing the noble goal of boosting homeownership among iwi. To make this possible, legislation had to be bent and twisted: Kāinga Ora laws were adjusted, and the Waikato Raupatu Claims Settlement Act dusted off, suddenly allowing a perfectly legal handout of a slice of the property market to a select group based purely on tribal membership. But one has to ask: does this pass the litmus test of fairness for all New Zealanders, or just the politically connected?

Ani O'Brien: A week is a long time - 28 June 2025

Rest in peace, Takutai Tarsh Moana Kemp

Having only just celebrated her 50th birthday, Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp sadly passed away this week. She had been diagnosed with kidney disease last year and was receiving treatment. She was on the waiting list for a transplant. The assumption has been that she succumbed to her illness.

Kerre Woodham: Debt-to-income restrictions aren't a bad idea

Fundamentally, I would have thought that limiting debt-to-income is a good idea.

The debt-to-income ratio is the ratio of your total debt —mortgage credit cards, child support payments, hire, purchase, and the like— relative to your total pre-tax income. So, for example, if you have a total debt of $500,000 and your total gross income is $80,000, your debt-to-income ratio is 6.25. It means your total debt is 6.25 of your total gross income. So, as I say, to estimate your debt-to-income ratio, start by adding up all your debt payments, any large fixed payments you simply can't afford, and divide them by your pre-tax income.

Mike's Minute: Blame it on the bank? NZ's true housing crisis

Wouldn’t it be nice to think that rent-to-build could break the cultural and psychological barrier it needs to so that you can have a large building of renters co-existing happily with the sort of pride and joy you get in neighbourhoods where the bulk of people own their homes?

Mike Hosking: Home ownership and the 'rich'

If a problem is, by and large, one of perception, we seem to have very successfully managed to work ourselves into a weird sort of lather over home ownership.

The banks have all been announcing profits in the past week or so and there has been plenty of profit to announce.

Matthew Birchall: The generational housing divide

Like many young Kiwis, I was surprised to learn during the election campaign that Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon both bought their first homes at the tender age of 24.

As someone who has recently written on the history of housing in New Zealand, I should not have been so surprised. New Zealand has long been a houseproud nation, and for much of the 20th century, the “quarter-acre dream” was a reality for many Kiwis – the two Chrises included.

And still, the number 24 nagged.

Don Brash: House prices falling at last?

In recent weeks, more and more commentators are suggesting that house prices in New Zealand have started to fall, and are expected to fall further.

For many homeowners, especially those who have bought within the last year or two, this news will be terrifying, and for them I have a great deal of sympathy. They were sold the lie that house prices would always and everywhere rise much faster than incomes, and that therefore the best way to financial independence was to borrow to the maximum extent possible and buy a house – better still, several houses, the more the better.

The lie was aggressively promoted by the mainstream media, with constant references to the importance of “getting on the property ladder”, the implication being that once on “the ladder”, you would be carried onward and upward indefinitely.

Frank Newman: Frugality and home ownership

Virtually every day I see news items reporting a tale of woe about unfortunate wannabe first home buyers being deprived of the right to do so; and it’s always someone else’s fault. I personally don’t buy into that negativity and blame game. In my view houses are affordable, and more so in provincial New Zealand.

I addressed this issue in a recent column about living off the smell of an oily rag. People usually have a bit of a chuckle about frugality and dismiss it a little like they would buying a black and white TV – it was something a previous generation did, before cell phones were invented and before Facebook (Fb) joined the Periodic Table of Elements.