A writer says he objects to pullouts trumpeting the "sizzling" property market and articles saying there's still a "chance" for first-home buyers. Photo / File
Sizzling property market and first home buyers
I object to pullouts trumpeting the "sizzling" property market and articles saying there's still a "chance" for first-home buyers to get into our local market (Chronicle, Nov 2) – all encouraging more FOMO and greed. I picture a drunk leaving a
hotplate on and dying in the inferno.
We now have the most expensive housing globally compared to income and ironically the worst quality – our housing stock is so poorly insulated with one-third of rentals damp and resulting in Third World diseases (rheumatic fever) and likely a $50 billion bill for leaky homes.
There's much talk about RMA changes to solve supply, but it goes back 30-40 years and is more fundamental – fear of sharemarkets after the 1987 crash, unlevel playing fields re-tax treatment, a Kiwi love affair with property - to now where it's an absolute obsession.
The Reserve Bank's too-blunt instrument of eliminating the LVR to keep the economy going has exacerbated the speculation problem, with multiple-property owners shading out first-home buyers.
