KEY POINTS:
People have given a resounding thumbs down to a plea from Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard to buy shares instead of houses.
Dr Bollard warned in November that Kiwi investors' preference for houses over shares would condemn them to low returns and the country to weak economic growth.
However, most people questioned in a Herald poll disagreed with his views, showing their love affair with housing looks likely to continue.
Only 27.3 per cent thought he was right about investing in shares - a figure that lines up with the 2001 household savings survey that found 70 per cent owned no shares directly.
Nearly two-thirds thought he was wrong and 53.8 per cent backed that up by saying they thought now was actually a good time to buy a house.
The latest figures from the Real Estate Institute show that house prices have continued to rise this year with the national median reaching a record $330,000 in November.
Those figures may have had some influence on those people who were polled - nearly half of whom believed house prices would go up in 2007, while 37.3 per cent thought they would stay the same.
The number of people who thought that prices would go up was slightly higher in places outside Auckland than in the city.
When asked if the Government should tax profits on house sales so that all investments were treated more equally, 63.2 per cent replied no.
That finding surprised Herald financial columnist and author of Get Rich Slow Mary Holm who thought more people would have been against it because property was "the sacred cow" here.
Holm said an argument could be made that capital gains on property should be taxed but it would have to come with a drop in income tax.
"Arguably it's fairer to tax when people happen to be lucky enough to make a profit than when they are sweating in the coal mines, earning a living."
As for the Bollard question about putting money into shares rather than housing, Ms Holm said it could have been interpreted differently by people.
Some may have taken it to mean putting all money into shares and not buying any property - even to live in, while others may have thought it referred to money available for investment in addition to owing a home.
If it was taken the first way she could understand people's reservation: "As far as your own home goes I think certainly it's fine for that to be your top priority." However, Holm said when it came to investing in addition to a first home she urged people to give shares a second chance.
"Given that most New Zealanders' biggest investment by far is their own home it really would be good if they did spread their other money over shares. It's very risky to have all of your savings in one type of investment like property because the market could go down. It has in other countries over the years."
Holm believed some people didn't understand shares while others were "scared for life" after experiencing the crash in 1987.
Both reasons could explain why so many people were against Dr Bollard's advice.
