NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

<i>Hugh Pavletich:</i> There are no perfect measures - so let's stop quibbling

By Hugh Pavletich
NZ Herald·
5 Feb, 2009 03:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Opinion by

KEY POINTS:

The New Zealand Herald is to be commended for fostering constructive public discussion on the housing issue with its article by Chris Barton "Home Truths".

The article followed the release of the 2009 5th Edition Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey.

I initiated and co-authored the surveys
because of my deep concern that New Zealanders and Australians were being seriously misinformed about the structural problems of their housing markets.

Prior to these annual surveys being generated (the first was in early 2005) the vast majority of New Zealanders and Australians (including property professionals) didn't realise how much they were being "taken to the cleaners" with the excessive prices for housing.

Mr Barton opines: "What may be surprising about Demographia's analysis is not that it reflects a property developer's ultimate fantasy, but that the Government is buying its message." Mr Barton can be assured that my "ultimate fantasy" has nothing to do with housing.

I have spent these past 4 years working on a voluntary basis stimulating public discussion of these issues internationally.

As Keith Hall of the New Zealand Planning Institute quite rightly states, the causes of these "housing bubble problems" are wide-ranging. Indeed the institute publicly announced its "strong support" for the Annual Demographia Surveys back in 2007. The National Party (in opposition at the time) then initiated the Housing Affordability Inquiry and its housing spokesman Phil Heatley completed an extensive housing study tour of Britain and the United States.

The Government knows that it must get workable solutions in place or it will repeat the mistakes of the former Howard Government in Australia (as the Rudd Government appears to be doing) and the former New Zealand Labour Government.

Come election time voters do not thank politicians for making them poor by encouraging them into phony booms, flicking houses to one another and loading themselves up with grossly excessive household debt and taxes in the process.

And the Government cannot afford to stand idly by and allow the New Zealand housing construction sector to wind down month after month, so that on a population basis, housing construction collapses from the current 14,000 units per annum to the current California level of approximately 7000 - or worse still - the disastrous British levels of 3500 new residential units per year. In March 2008, I wrote a rather lengthy paper, Getting performance urban planning in place, outlining the causes of the housing bubbles and suggesting solutions. It's very clear to me that central Government must get the appropriate structures in place so that there is a "performance based relationship" with local government.

It appears that Bob Hargreaves, Professor of Property Studies at Massey University, is still prepared to promote the technically unsound "mixed measures" Housing Affordability Indexes. However, it is necessary that critics understand the importance of keeping the issues of housing affordability (house prices relationship with incomes) and mortgage affordability completely separate.

The problems of these "mixed measures" and the data manipulation involved with too many of them have been well known within the property industry for decades. In contrast, the Demographia Housing Survey approach in employing the Median Multiples (median house price divided by the gross annual median household income) is a "clean measure" and one recommended by the United Nations and World Bank. Professor Shlomo (Solly) Angel who contributed the preface to this year's Demographia Survey (Dr Don Brash last year) was the co-architect (with the late Steve Mayo) of the UN and World Bank Urban Indicators Programmes.

Planning Institute chief executive Keith Hall's comments illustrate his deep understanding of these issues. It helps enormously that Mr Hall started his planning career in Houston.

Mr Hall is quite correct in not recommending US property tax structures, which finance far greater service provision than our local authority rates. However, there are no state income taxes in Texas and that overall (local, state, federal combined) Texans pay far less tax than in most other American states and of course New Zealand. For homeowners "mortgage interest" (up to certain limits) is tax deductible in the US.

We can, of course, quibble and intellectualise about the strengths and weaknesses of various measures (there are no perfect ones) and other matters or focus on the real issues and allow New Zealanders and Australians access to affordable housing as soon as possible.

We are best to focus on progress in this life and leave perfection to the next. Let's get on with it.

* Hugh Pavletich is co-author of the annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Nine Lotto players win nearly $31k each in Second Division – where tickets were sold

06 Jul 05:31 AM
New Zealand

'Remarkable' drugs: Benefits and drawbacks of Ozempic, Wegovy revealed

06 Jul 04:12 AM
New Zealand

Traumatised woman who found 'real love and care' in NZ avoids deportation

06 Jul 04:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Nine Lotto players win nearly $31k each in Second Division – where tickets were sold

Nine Lotto players win nearly $31k each in Second Division – where tickets were sold

06 Jul 05:31 AM

Lotto First Division Powerball was not struck and has jackpotted to $10m on Wednesday.

'Remarkable' drugs: Benefits and drawbacks of Ozempic, Wegovy revealed

'Remarkable' drugs: Benefits and drawbacks of Ozempic, Wegovy revealed

06 Jul 04:12 AM
Traumatised woman who found 'real love and care' in NZ avoids deportation

Traumatised woman who found 'real love and care' in NZ avoids deportation

06 Jul 04:00 AM
Air NZ flight lands safely in Auckland after hydraulic issue

Air NZ flight lands safely in Auckland after hydraulic issue

06 Jul 03:15 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP