Jeremy Tauri.
Did you hear the one about how the Government should cause house prices to crash by 40 per cent?
It would be funny if it weren't so scary.
Former Reserve Bank chairman Arthur Grimes said this week that Auckland property prices needed to drop by that much - and set
out some ideas of how that could be achieved. Largely, it came down to more intensification and a huge amount of new building.
I can understand the sentiment. No one looks at $1 million house prices and rejoices. We all know young people who feel as if they will never be able to own the roof over their heads.
Rapidly rising house prices really only benefit those who want to downsize. Everyone else is either struggling to get in to a first home or is buying and selling in the same market, so the equity they might have amassed is fairly academic. But to suggest a price drop, and such a huge one, is problematic.
