The Reserve Bank was forced to cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) today in a bid to drive down the high New Zealand dollar and address growing imbalances in the New Zealand economy, the Green Party said today. The Reserve Bank cut the OCR today by 25 basis points to 2.0 per cent, with Governor Graeme Wheeler signalling further cuts were likely. “The Reserve Bank has been forced to cut the OCR in an attempt to address growing imbalances in...

House price data released today shows no signs of a slow down to the overheated housing market and overdue cuts to the Official Cash Rate (OCR) tomorrow are likely to add further fuel to the fire, the Green Party said today. REINZ data released today shows median house prices continue to rise, up 8.6 percent nationally (year on year) and up 12.2 percent in Auckland (year on year). The Reserve Bank will likely announce cuts to the OCR tomorrow, which...

Auckland housing is unaffordable and a responsible Government would have a sensible plan to reduce house prices over time, while protecting families with mortgages, the Green Party said today. “The simple fact is that housing in Auckland is totally unaffordable and if we don’t take action to bring house prices down, we will have a whole generation of people locked out of ever owning their own home,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei. “In around 10 to 15 years’ time,...

Data released today by the Reserve Bank confirms that National continues to let property speculators drive the housing market, hurting first home buyers, the Green Party said. New Reserve Bank mortgage lending data shows that in June, property investors borrowed $2.56 billion while first home buyers borrowed less than a third of that, just $738 million. Investors took out over 7,000 new mortgage loans in June, compared to only 1,970 mortgages for first home buyers. “National is clearly more interested...

Nick Smith’s next step must be action to fix the housing crisis, now he’s accepted that Auckland is unaffordable for first home buyers, the Green Party said. “New Zealand has gone through the five stages of grief in the housing crisis, and now that the Building and Housing Minister has reached the fifth stage – acceptance – it’s time for him to take action,” Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “Nick Smith has finally recognised what people in...

Lack of Government action to curb housing speculation has forced the Reserve Bank to announce new nationwide investor loan-to-value restrictions (LVRs) restrictions, the Green Party said. The Reserve Bank has today released a consultation paper proposing changes to LVRs to lessen the risks to financial stability arising from rapidly rising house prices. These proposed new restrictions would take effect on 1 September 2016. “The Green Party supports Reserve Bank actions to take some of the heat out of the property...

The National Government’s about-turn on foreign trusts has been welcomed by the Green Party today in the wake of the Shewan Inquiry that found that foreign trusts were a likely vehicle for tax abuse and need to be opened up with increased disclosure and reporting requirements. The Green Party has been pushing for similar disclosure measures around foreign trusts since 2012 while the IRD had made repeated attempts to warn the National Government of the risks of them in 2013...

The Government’s backdown on forcing Housing New Zealand (HNZ) to pay a multimillion-dollar dividend shows that the Government can take measures to help end the housing crisis if it really wants to, the Green Party said today. “Reinvesting HNZ dividends to build more houses just makes sense and I’m pleased the Government is finally showing some flexibility on this,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “It was perverse that National was forcing HNZ to pay a dividend back to the...

Comments by the Reserve Bank today that the Government should consider ‘further reducing the tax advantage of investing in residential housing’ highlight that the Government could be doing much more to fix the housing crisis, the Green Party said. “John Key said earlier this week the Reserve Bank should ‘get on’ with fixing the housing crisis, but the Bank has put the spotlight back on the National Government’s inaction,” Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “When the Reserve...

John Key’s call for tougher lending controls for property speculators again demonstrates a Government in crisis mode over the hugely damaging housing price bubble, the Green Party said today. Prime Minister John Key yesterday signaled to the Reserve Bank that it should quickly extend existing loan-to-value ratio restrictions to investors to help slow house price rises. The latest monthly QV House Price Index shows values nationwide are now rising at the fastest rate since 2004, with the average house value...