House prices will ascend beyond our wages, according to commentators.
Massey University professor Bob Hargreaves said it would get harder to buy a house over the next five years, with house prices more likely to rise than drop, interest rates only able to go up and wages remaining static. “Plus the fact that most of the people operating in the housing market are not first-home buyers, they are existing investors. The house prices will go up.”
Hargreaves said the recent home loan affordability jump in November was a short burst in an otherwise pretty crappy long-term picture for aspiring home owners.
Talk of property taxes and such is something that could change the market, but Hargreaves points out it would take a brave politician to make such a move.
Sales in December last year averaged $552,933 which is the highest in two years, managing director Professor Peter Thompson said.
He said the amount of sales has decreased markedly, but this is for no other reason than sellers not willing to settle for less than they think their property is worth.
He said property ownership has been falling for some time now, but remains high in the older demographic. “If people want to get a house, they will get there, it just takes longer. Whereas people were buying them in their 20s when I was younger, it is now more like your late 30s or 40s.”
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