And a whole lot of counterexamples. It's so useless for any practical purpose that it's only used in theoretical arguments.

but demand for housing is moderately predictable at the lower end.

Then predict away.

State housing competes with…

It's a very well held theory with lots of real world evidence. It's as fact as you can get in large complex macroeconomic systems. It's not straight maths…

That's not a fact, it's a theory with a whole lot of caveats and disclaimers about the conditions under which it holds. Even the claim you made has the wildly unrealistic caveat of "holding demand constant". It's also…

It's not really true, though, or should I say it's not very precise. You mean there are 3 times more people inadequately housed than there…

__NB: Fine print…

No I don't. I'm saying there's 3 times as many people needing to buy or rent those properties, than there are properties available for rent. That will push the…

You need to say the price you're talking about to make that comparison. Supply and demand are both functions of price. You are also equating…

Herald readers said Thompson was out of touch, had ignored high student loans, the hardship of saving $100,000 on a low wage,…

Both, but a bit of this would go a long way. As with many things, it's all fine as long as your landlord is reasonable (or your tenants are reasonable, as the case may be). The problem is that there's no social pressure to be a decent…

I agree with the point you made regarding the need to tackle the financial incentives underpinning…

Thank you.

For perspective,…

That old dogwhistle. Last figures I saw was about 10% foreign ownwership…

Of course, for reasons already given, it wouldn't work like that. There would still be people without a home. Just because you can't go to your holiday home, as if you're going to sell it to some…

Right. So here is the anwer then, more holidays. :-)

You might have to be a bit more specific about what evidence you're after. Which would mean engaging in the discussion more than that.

Serious, not being sarcastic.

I think you're being serious too. I haven't heard you say that you think house supply…

http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/residential-property-to-rent

And of course by no means all rentals are advertised on TradeMe.

evidence, or stop making shit up.

which contradicts official statistics. got any alternative link to evidence?

OK, but demand is a function of how much money you have for something you want, not just of how many people want or need those things. So saying "supply does not meet demand" absolutely does not mean…

If that's the case, then increasing supply may…

Could also be that some families are not going to be top of the landlord's list…

Could it be because the rent for those places is out of their financial reach?

That might not be enough to completely…

NZ might be able to handle maybe 3 of these "mega-cities" – Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. It'd be even more feasible if the…

it is crazy having a 400m isthmus splitting…

While immigration played a key role in house inflation in the three years after 2001 (Reserve Bank 2007), it is unknown to what extent on-going immigration continued to drive price rises.
The housing boom has meant good profits for…

That would have been the hot-rod era, if I'm not much mistaken?

36 years old. I was 15.

http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2014/11/the-new-zealand-housing-nightmare/

Thanks for the link Ross. The German approach to rental housing seems way better than ours.
The German system moreover is deliberately structured to encourage renting rather than owning. Tenants enjoy strong rights and, provided they pay their rent, are virtually immune from eviction and even from…

My underlying points were really around – since the Housing NZ stock is substantially inadequate, then a large-scale, aggressive approach to building was…

We are. I'm not intending my statements to span all time. Just the rest of my life.

Yes, land price is a factor but certainly not the single biggest.

It's the only way you can explain that…

The causes of land price inflation are many and various. Basically they go to our entire way…

Although conventional wisdom in the English-speaking world holds that bureaucratic intervention in prices makes for subpar outcomes, the fact is that the German economy is by any standards one of the world’s most successful. Just how successful is apparent in, for instance, international trade.…

Respect for that.
BTW hand throttles were all the go once upon a time: [[http://www.learnnc.org/lp/multimedia/13198|The controls for…

+1 Andrew , that would be more creative if Govt looked at different and more efficient ways to build houses. Off shore maybe but pre fabricated in NZ factories would create a lot of…

I agree but real solutions to complex problem don't always sync with political desires.
eg The 3 Strikes policy , simple ( dumb) solution to a complex problem but I bet it pulled in…

What about picking your nose while driving ?

As far as I know the goofyfoot gas pedal is still legal.

Sorry not picking open you Lucy but this is a phrase we see trotted out a lot by our elected leaders and each time I see/hear it I cry bullshit

Its not a complex issue if there is a will and desire to solve the problem,…

I did not know about that law.

Neither did I, nor I suspect, did the women I've…

But yes, I shouldn't have said cost wasn’t an issue, rather that it’s not the only…

It's probably worth defining what we mean by "housing for everyone". Because it's pretty wide. It certainly is possible to house everyone right now just by putting more than one person per bedroom.…

As I understand it, the issue isn't the…

It well and truly is our version of G7 farm subsidies – like a cartel that's too big for the Commerce Commission to unpick. Sadly it…

Didn’t Labour have their decade-long building programme fully costed as part of their detailed election policy? Can’t…

I agree with this. Not because people are hard hearted here but because they really have no idea of the scale of the problem, or the…

Yup. Every time I hear a solution proposed, I…

Last I checked, which was back in the St Helen era, WINZ might help with a no-interest loan for repairs, but you buy your own.
;-€

Missing or discoloured adult teeth seem to be a reliable indicator of social caste. NZ dentistry is pricey, and WINZ doesn't offer much by way of assistance.

The average salary of policy analysts in June 2013 was $88,912. If we assume 37.5 hours/week, that's 1950 hours over the course of a year (including paid holidays), which is $45.60/hour. Before tax…

Decisions like that are professionally statistically validated and compared with similar government hardship surveys around the world (fact, based on having done some work with the people who made that survey).

I reckon they get some things wrong, but…

Fact, not opinion. People here can follow sources themselves. We all get things wrong from time to time, no need to get defensive about it.

In Australia, the major banks hold about $10 of equity capital for every $100 of business loans they make (so they are…

That aside, you’re probably right that National don’t want to build state houses at least in part because they don’t want property prices to fall.…

Apparently not.

RadioNZ – Key, English at odds on State housing

That is however one of the official measures in the ELSI living standards survey.

That transaction can not be serviced by the state. That is a stupid purchase.

" Unbearable' stench on NZ-bound flight"

Gold, so shiny. Big pools and lots of plane trips away from Nu Zild. Like the kiwiblog guy but with a big house and other houses for the poorer neighbour, just like charity but also not like charity at all.

yes, who knows where their media presence has gone? strangely silent..

Co-existing with complete strangers is not easy. Individual housing has more social and mental security.

Flatmates. Why hasn't this come up in discussions about there being too many bedrooms in the houses they have available? Did they not go to University? Did they live at home until they entered Parliament?

The first thing I thought of with John Key's numbers this morning is: over what time period? Spending $12M per year?…

Economics is a lot clearer than even ten years ago. The GEC shone so much light into the bullshit of moving money around for the sake of short-term profit.…

They seem to believe it's unsporting or something. Or they can't add, multiply or use a calculator.

Affordable but good-quality apartments are exactly the sort of proposition that central and local government are well-placed to underwrite over decades,…

They’re also not going to cost half a million bucks apiece to construct.

It's just nasty politics. They want people begging for…

Apartments, then?

1: Supply and demand works, for profit maximisation.
2: Price-indexed subsidies to remove the price drag on demand.
3: Profit!!!!!
3a: Also a massive subsidy cost, borrowed from future generations. Suckers.

Obviously if you cared about…

The accommodation supplement for a single person is capped at $ 145 per week in Auckland, it is less in other regions, and it has not been increased for years. The maximum amount claimable is $ 225 per week for a sole parent…

if there are not enough dwellings, how does a rental subsidy increase their availability?

If you really wanted to make a difference quickly this would be the way to…

Well they made a $24 million operating surplus last year and have hundred of millions of $ in retained earnings/reserves from previous years so I don't think it…

No, he’s counting on them having to partner with organisations with capital to invest.

The Salvation Army already have a large housing portfolio, so I suspect they do have the dosh (so shouldn't need to rely on their earnings from getting the problem…

And we're getting the same fact-free rubbish this time around. The new wrinkle is that PPPs between community organisations and financiers will add some rigour to the business model of subsidy-guaranteed…

Seriously though, I’m on the Accommodation Supplement, and I’d rather not be. It’s a necessary evil while I struggle to progress from a dead-end job, while I’m on the Community Services Card, and still waiting for the local hospital to approve some very…

Yes. What Lucy said.