I was reading on the news that house prices went up 13,000 in one month over this summer, over 400 dollars a day!. I was also just reading that the percentage of home owners is dropping quickly. I hope NZ government do something about this.

I was also reading that 2nd home buyers (investors) get tax relief etc, while 1st time buyers get nothing, that doesn't make any sense.

they are, the Reserve Bank keeps hiking the interest rates (its about all they can do), yet people stupidly keep on buying... IMO its just greed as so many people are buying that 'second investment property' = less people owning more houses means greater demand in general. I dont know why people keep buying but its only going to end up more and more people with debts they cant pay. You'd think it would have stopped rocketing up by now.

I say it again though, the only way to really stop it is for the banks (not the govt) to STOP lending people the money, they are lending at rates that require people to be paying way more than a third of their combined income (single people are basically out of the market now), and in many cases of the two people working one is working just to pay the mortgage. It is exactly what has just happened in the US, and it will all end in tears the same way too. Its up to the lending companies to take responsibility and start pissing people off with rejections rather than competing more and more for every mortgage they can get with their 'free hols with our mortgage' offers.... At the moment the banks are laughing, setting up loans people cant afford, knowing that if they have to foreclose on the mortgage, they will still make their money off it when the property is sold at a profit...

But don't you think that is exactly one of the reasons we kiwis stay abroad? I mean what is the real incentive to return downunder. House prices are sky high, the cost of living is way above average and wages don't reflect either of these.

So many NZ companies are coming overseas to try and recruit highly skilled New Zealanders to return, but why is the government not doing anything to incentivise this.

In NZ, it used to be that the average wage gave you an above average lifestyle. These days it's much different. Now i live abroad, earn good money and with it have a great lifestyle. Shame my home country can't provide the same.

the incentive to return is not really only based on house prices, its also: family and friends, clean air, open spaces, people who dont stick their nose in your business all the time, the kind of freedom we cant get in more crowded countries, fresh produce, beautiful scenery to lift the spirit on a bad day, openness and people who greet you with a genuine smile, an environment that allows you and encourages you to take risks and be innovative. I could go on

In the end, wherever you are, there you are. You have as much chance in NZ as anywhere else to be happy, you only have to be ready to take opportunities and also create your own. NZ is currently the easiest country in the world to start your own business in regarding regulation and red tape, and the least corrupt. The present government (which sadly probably wont win the next election) has made huge improvements to the economic and social position of kiwis (maybe you dont remember how things were 10 years ago there but I do!). They certainly are working on encouraging skilled workers from any country to come there, and I am always hearing from dutch people how either they are planning to move there or they know someone who just did. Artciles like this: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?...jectid=10435784 show that companies are also able to find skilled staff from all over the world and that they are a big asset. I dont think the government is hindering that, they are trying to make it easier as the economy relies on skilled staff.

Having said all that, the house prices there are totally crazy and incomes need to increase! But you still get many benefits living there that you dont get here, and if you can earn a good income elsewhere you should be able to earn a good income by NZ standards in NZ

Hmnn, I'm not sure, It seems that the standard of living has dropped, It is obviously increasingly difficult for people to afford housing, and I imagine it must be quite depressing seeing a percentage of society becoming increasingly rich, while they are faced with a lifetime of renting. I saw recently that if things continue, the percentage of people not being homeowners now at just over 50% will increase to 70% over the next 15 years. I don't think that's very good for the economy or NZ's society.

I did hear there was some mortgage scheme for returning kiwi's, not sure if this is true, I hope so. I was also reading that a top real estate firm has suggested that kiwi's should stop drinking coffee, and buying newish cars..and then they can buy a house in a run down shit hole suburb....God we shouldn't expect to be able to drink coffee anymore? People in Holland seem to be able to buy a house, have a nice car and have several cups of coffeee, shock horror!

In fact here's a report showing our latest dive in living standards, apparently were just ahead of countries like poland, mexico and Turkey! Wow!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4036176a11.html

I think thats just political point scoring going on, its not that bad! I still have all my family there and although things are not perfect they are doing pretty well. The house pricing is the biggest problem IMO, and surely the bubble has to burst soon..

I don't think it will burst soon, with high employment rates there is high job security, and rising house prices makes for a great investment. The only thing I can see that will bring house prices down is that people can't afford to buy houses anymore, this maybe so with your average NZ'r, but with all the foreign buyers, I can't see this happening.

thats true, but I would think the housing market in general relies on the 'average' kiwi buyer and there arent enough foreign buyers to push it up over the whole country. I think the point of the average kiwi not being able to afford housing is now reached, (if only the banks would acknowldege that) and I hope the government doesnt try to 'help' people buy houses and thus keep the high prices high longer. The only thing housing subsidies (of any form) do is increase the house prices proportionately.

I wish I had kept my property there now! Dammit.

I recently read about a guy, not particularly wealthy when he started out, who started buying residential houses about 15 years ago, and now owns about 40 houses in Auckland alone. He is basically just collecting them as a retirement fund. He's probably the guy you want to talk to about perverting the natural state of things, not the people who own one or even three additional flats. That has always been the case to some extent, it's just a little more fashionable now. Pay off half a house quickly, and you can cover the mortgage in rent while you buy the next one. A few people I know were doing this in the 90s, and soon after university. I also read in the Herald somewhere recently that while NZers are unusually entrepreneurial by world standards, we also tend to slow back once we have attained a reasonable standard of living (and often retire). If this is indeed true, and my anecdotal experiences kind of bear that out, it would probably explain a lot of the investment market.

In the past banks never used to lend 100% mortgages, only 10-15 years ago as I recall you still had to come up with a large deposit (20%?). Perhaps that used to put a natural brake on NZer's inherent real estate fetishism?

I'm just back from visiting my NZ friends in London - they are all pretty much convinced that it's not worth returning until they have bought a decent property in NZ (from the UK, and several of them already own property there). The two main reasons being (a) far easier to save large amounts in the UK and ( after being in the UK for several years, it can be very difficult to return to the NZ workforce, in part because many NZ employers don't respect their overseas work experience (they are essentially considered as immigrants). These are all tertiary educated professionals able to make a decent living in London, and they don't feel like it's an option to return to NZ anymore, even when they are having kids. It's a shame, but the local market has, in their mind, forced them into that situation.

There seems to be a lot of differing stories about, which confuses the hell out of me, on one hand we hear about companies trying to recruit kiwis to come home, and then on the other we have returning kiwi's being turned down for jobs because they are treated like immigrants.

I've read numerous articles now about kiwis returning from working in Europe, USA etc being told that they don't have any NZ experience when being turned down for jobs, even when they worked in NZ for 10 years before leaving the country. This is while NZ businesses are crying out about a lack of skilled labour available.

I wonder what NZ businesses are worried about, and what on earth is NZ experience? I don't remember business being remarkably different down there. Are they worried people with a lot of overseas work experience will show them up?

I think it's a disgrace that NZ'rs feel they can't return home, perhaps Australia is a better option for me. At least it wouldn't be such a drop in living standards.

I'd be interested to find out where you are reading these articles Matt, cause I'm only hearing about this issue now.

I imagine it probably depends on the type of work and the industry to an extent. I guess too, you can never discount individuals disappointed to find out that NZ employers don't value them more - after all, for years we were schooled in the belief that overseas experience would bring us unique skills and therefore unique earning power if we returned.

The impression I was left with was that UK-based NZers believe such attitudes have to do with parochialism and jealousy.