Congratulations, John Key:

14 Responses to Congratulations, John Key:

1. Wombat says:

   November 25, 2015 at 16:12

   Plenty of baby boomers are still castigating their grandchildren for not jumping head first into the housing market. They seem to think that because they invested in houses back in the 70s and did well from it that it’s still a no-brainer financial strategy.
   • Cadwallader says:

     November 25, 2015 at 17:10

     Yes this tidal wave of house prices has been fomenting for at least 20 years led principally by poor urban planning laws steeped in the reverence NZ’ers have for the preservation of farmland.
2. Gregoryno6 says:

   November 25, 2015 at 17:12

   House prices climbed to insane heights during Melbourne’s real estate boom in the 80s. Very ordinary residences (admittedly, most DID have a sink in the kitchen) were bought by young couples who’d been studying the market for all of five minutes; didn’t matter what they’d paid, they were sure they’d get their money back and then some when they sold. When the bubble burst they were left singing a different tune…
3. mara says:

   November 25, 2015 at 17:17

   What are you saying Wombat? Being interested in real estate, I often go to local open homes and auctions. You might be surprised by the high numbers of local, young people who seem easily able to spend north of a million$ for some ratty hovel in a good zone. Yes, there are Chinese phone buyers and, without doubt, they do push prices up, but they do not seem interested in the provinces where prices are relatively stable. If you lived in an inner city des res would you refuse to sell to the highest bidder because you disliked the “politics?” This is not criticism, just a genuine question.
   • Wombat says:

     November 27, 2015 at 01:33

     I’m not talking about selling below market value out of patriotism or altruism.

     I’m just sick if hearing baby boomers yacking to their kids and their kids’ kids about investing in the real estate market when said market is completely tapped out.

     The market has been kept artificially inflated because if more land was opened up and restrictions on planning and building were reduced to sane levels then the resultant drop in property prices would collapse the entire banking sector, which has built its very existence around creating debt slaves of the majority of our population.

     Fuck it all AFAIC.
4. mawm says:

   November 25, 2015 at 17:49

   The house is in Kerr St. Hmmmm….just around the corner from the Devonport cafe’s and restaurants, the ferry terminal, on the slopes of Mt Victoria and looks across to the city. No mention of the size of the section ‘tho. I’m surprised that the house went for so little! It’ll be knocked down and a million dollar home built on the site. This is what happens in Auckland.

   Also there is no mention that the NZD has devalued by over 25% in the past year and replacement cost of any house has to reflect the increased material costs.
   • The Gantt Guy says:

     November 25, 2015 at 19:36

     Bloody precisely, mawm. It’s exactly the same as all those beat-up articles that whinge about how young couples can’t afford to buy a property, then and as evidence cite a couple of weekends trailing a young couple around auctions in Ponsonby and Grey Lynn! Where I live (it’s paradise and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else), there are as-of today, a number of properties listed at less than $600k!
5. Odakyu-sen says:

   November 25, 2015 at 20:36

   The nominal price of a house is not the point; it’s the percentage of a household’s post-tax income that goes to service the mortgage.
   What percentage of your household income were you paying for your housing 20 years ago? What percentage of household income are families paying now?
   (I have no idea, since I simply paid cash for my place.)
   • mawm says:

     November 25, 2015 at 21:22

     In a low inflationary cycle such as now one cannot rely on inflation to take care of one’s mortgage, not like 20 years ago. That said those at the beginning of their career in my profession are far better off than I was at the same stage.
     • Odakyu-sen says:

       November 25, 2015 at 21:50

       Indeed.
       In today’s low-inflationary cycle: Large Loans Linger Longer.

       I hear that the Kiwis of the 1970s and 1980s were helped by wage inflation. I don’t see that kind of inflation in NZ now, except for my mechanic’s hourly rate (bastard!).
       • Ronbo says:

         November 26, 2015 at 00:40

         ….who was smart enough NOT TO ATTEND COLLEGE!

         Seriously, I discovered this when I was a home owner many years ago – the guys who put on the roof, take care of the plumbing, maintain the electric wires and groom the yard – cry every day about not attending a good college – ON THEIR WAY TO THE BANK.
       • mawm says:

         November 26, 2015 at 06:28

         That kind of wage inflation also came along with high interest rates. I was paying in the 20%’s at times. Believe it or not it wasn’t easy. I only ever had a mortgage on my first home and my wife and I worked d*mn hard to pay it off as quickly as possible – drove old cars, no expensive holidays, meals out, TV’s, etc. I don’t see the kids of today doing that!

         @Ronbo – it took me 12 years of tertiary education before I earned a salary above subsistance level and in all that time the dumb kids from school were earning well as plumbers and builders. They’re probably still better off than me.
6. Lara says:

   November 26, 2015 at 11:06

   Some babyboomers are so bloody smug though – they had high wages and very low house prices, nil GST, no water rates on top etc, no student loan debt. They had the golden era, gone forever. Empathy would be nice!!!!

   Overseas investors have definately pushed up the prices, and mass immigration. Palatial-owning Key wouldn’t give a rat’s arse though. I might own a house, but my kids will struggle to!
   • Wombat says:

     November 27, 2015 at 01:51

     Smug baby boomers? Perish the thought!

     We younger folk are just not hard workers like them, right?

     I mean, our rent-a-home culture is all because of our lazy, crack smoking stupidity, yeah?

     It’s got absolutely nothing to do with houses being over double the cost when measured against average income as they were in 1970, right?

     And that doubling the cost doubles the interest, so the same house actually costs you four times as it did in 1970 (accounting for inflation).

     But tell a baby boomer that buying one house today is the same financial commitment as buying four houses at once in 1970 and not being able to rent them out either, and they’ll roll their eyes.