colinrealestate

This comment is from Westpac’s chief economist Brendan O’Donovan Building new houses is going to be the result of there not being enough existing housing for sale to meet the huge demand.
Net permanent/long term migration to New Zealand rose to a five year high in the year to August 2009 as departures from New Zealand continued to drop. Economists say the boost in net migration, a shortage of quality housing for sale and low building consent levels will drive house prices higher.
To put it another way, the grass is no longer considered greener on the other side so kiwis are settling down here in the land of their birth. Departures this year to August were down nearly 10,000 from the year ended August 2008, while arrivals were up by 790. This lead to 15,600 net permanent and long term arrivals to New Zealand (about 5,000 families), the highest annual total since the year ended November 2004, according to Statistics New Zealand. This was more than triple the same amount in the year to August 2008.
However, this goes against the hopes of the Reserve Bank and Treasury, who want any recovery to be export-led. The conclusion is that housing will rise in value again. It’s a simple matter of supply and demand

Filed under: REAL ESTATE | Tagged: Real Estate