Vision needed to fix crisis

Over the next 30 years Auckland needs 13,000 new houses a year to cope with population growth.

Fixing Auckland's housing crisis is going to take visionary leadership from local government says Harcourts' chief executive Chris Kennedy.

He says low supply and high demand is forcing house-hunters out of the SuperCity and into the regions.

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He says: "Understandably, people are looking to the Government to do something about the 'housing crisis' but it is not that simple.

"Obviously we can't stop our population from growing. The only answer is to make it easier and cheaper to build new houses to cater for the demand."

Over the next 30 years Auckland needs 13,000 new houses a year to cope with population growth. Kennedy says just 9500 are being built.

He says: "Local government needs to change their rules, which effectively make it unattractive to develop new housing."

Harcourts has seen a 20 per cent drop in its listings of homes for sale compared to a year ago, but an almost 16 per cent increase in the number of sales.

According to data from Barfoot, average New Zealand houses prices are $548,208, a year-to-date increase of 14 per cent.

Last week's Budget offered little for struggling home-buyers, apart from $100 million from the Government to free up Crown land in the city for housing. Some industry commentators say land is no longer the issue, it's the lack of new-house building.

Resource consents

Consents for new homes in Auckland have dropped. Having reached an 11-year high last year, Statistics New Zealand reports the numbers have been falling ever since, from 922 in April last year to 699 this April.

This latest blow to the Government means pressure on housing in Auckland will continue for the foreseeable future.

The only way is up

The average asking price for a New Zealand house hit an all-time high last month.

Realestate.co.nz says the national average asking price reached $570,971, up 7.2 per cent on the same time last year.

In Auckland, just 3422 properties are listed for sale, down more than 9 per cent on a year ago. Search data from the firm's website suggests Melville in Hamilton could be an up-and-comer, showing a 217 per cent increase in searches for property there.

There's also plenty of search activity in places such as the Central Otago/Lakes region, Nelson, Wellington, Waikato and Auckland.