Well both they and the government could do a lot to change things. But I don't think they will. The reasons are different, but connected. The government won't because they're inherently mean. The Reserve Bank…

Well to be fair, they are extremely complex issues. I wouldn't expect our political parties to have got their heads around dark matter either. But at…

Having a ruling body that can handle poverty without judging the fuck out of the isolated participants of that class is what I want to make.

For me ,it's 4 hours to get back to friends and family so I'll drive when needed but the reality is for us ,that in a couple of years we have made many new friends and…

Yes indeed. Always wanted to by 50. Guess 51 is ok. i now have time to be a bit more creative.

__"Punt Road's calcification has rendered families strangers to…

My guess would be that it won't be a universally popular suggestion.

I just hope he doesn't get the Adam Feeley treatment.

Yeah, never look at the prices just after you buy or sell. What's the point? And I'm sure the money will be nice to have…

He's only thinking "quite" deeply so it could all be over by lunchtime. ;)
As soon as you tell someone you sold the house they all start saying ,you could have got more than that now, meaning this week. Thing…

Pity he won't give even a hint of what he thinks ought to be done. That would be committing to something and soothsayers are very careful about…

Yup.

It is indeed time to change the housing market, to create and provide affordable rental and owned homes, so that more investment goes into other activities, that…

Don't know. They operate in a very different way. It's quite a different economy. How do you…

Commercial properties too. You might recall a certain church missionary organisation suffering a brief embarrassment a couple of decades ago when The Pink Pussycat in K Road's landlady passed on and left them the property in her will.

Unfortunately by weakening intensification. Still, guess that may get reversed in some areas in this round of feedback.

It has been less than the actual growth path over the last decade or two. Former govt statistician Len Cook gave an illuminating presentation on this last year – which is where I first heard the split…

True for the wealthy coastal areas highlighted in the first map in this Transportblog post. Those are the whinging fogies who got so much publicity during…

http://metromag.co.nz/current-affairs/unitary-plan-battle-city-we-deserve/

Auckland is no longer Dorkland. Auckland is 170 years of beauty and heartbreak. Auckland is the home to…

Oh no, you definitely don’t want to come south. No, no, no.…

But…

using public transport to get between them

which requires denser populations to make viable – hence won't happen while we still prioritise fringe single-level sprawl like Flat Bush. Property developers and construction companies need to get less lazy about how they make their money. And regulators…

a handy class proxy, if anything

Loathe as I am to overpopulate our beautiful beaches, there are pragmatic…

There are a couple of things which perplex me about Auckland prices, including where on earth folks get the…

In well-located apartments and other denser dwelling types, you mean? Plenty of sprawling suburban houses already.

families I would wager are a big part of enabling those with hefty loans and entry level wages to either borrow, or I know a few whose families are collectively building housing portfolios which means the younger members aren't individually required…

No, no, no, you want to encourage people to go south, otherwise Northland will fill up with economic refugees from Auckland and all that goodness you talk about will be gone. Then where are you going to go?

Heh, moving to the Far North has so many benefits :)

We get about one per thousand years, so…

Actually Auckland has had a few in it's time also but Christchurch may have wanted to take note in 1869, 1870, or even 1881 when the Cathedral got damaged. Canterbury has had it's share of earthquakes before 2010

I was speaking from an Auckland pov. Don't have earthquakes yet. Insurance screws you one way or another. The Council can too. Rates in the thousands and climbing for small sections with ever decreasing amenities doesn't feel like value. As I said the family…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVc8p6zpyoY

Such messages would probably be most effective towards the 'low-info' set. It's…

Micro-chip – good for light hairy-hominid, yes.

Spekay on webbysite, ~~~si gut to understand dir.

And @Sofie: Oh good God don't. I know people who purposely kept their CV low over decades and…

From neolithic to neoliberal in only 10,000 years!

Happiness is the pursuit and it is the greatest pursuit.

We want to change our environment for the better and 10,000 + years of philosophy suggests that wont be achieved by having a class of poverty trapped in a low-market participation…

Well people put up with a lot worse for thousands of years. Which doesn't make it right, it's just a fact about people.

Fuck Godwin. Western Europe can't even call 100 years on that politics yet we tut-tut about the failed societies of the…

You can’t just…

until they find leaders worth the name

A bad trait that has manifested itself across all English-speaking Conservative Parties in the last 30 odd years. National as a governing party need a generational change and a party soul to actually bring the nation forward. No heart.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/10608219/Investors-move-in-as-first-home-buyers-fold

Home afford-ability is at its lowest for decades, Housing NZ stock is going to be put onto the block, and liquor firms, cash rich iwi authorities and some well financed new migrants and…

and the financial sector will oblige with reverse annuity products to let down the value of those overpriced piles until their final gasps. No worries about inheritance…

That's the 800 billion dollar question. Been waiting a long time. I think ultimately property is too big to fail. Which sounds like famous last words, but really, once it's…

so govt says let's focus on supply! #duh

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/what-the-heck-are-learnings/

Looks like what we’re almost certainly going to be…

It's not a bad idea at all. My Dad did that once in Remuera. He objected to it's increase in value for the sake of increase in rates. He had it's value decreased and to this day…

It's just something real estate agents have been telling me since I first got serious about buying property. Every suburb is the new Ponsonby. Which has, going on the meteoric growth, actually been true in every case. And since estate agents only concern…

Yeah... We established that last week didnt we?

I think I'm entitled, having lived here since I was born. In fact I'm I third generation westie.

Says something about how…

But Massey is the new Ponsonby!

Oh, I love where I live. It's just that it might make sense eventually to sell up and buy a much cheaper dwelling somewhere else and make use of our huge capital gain. But we're…

A long-time family friend of mine has lived in Massey for the last few years, and he said in a Skype conversation last week that he'd be back in Wellington in an instant…

This one? Interesting explanation for why it only does Wellington. And only Wellington City proper – I just tried a Porirua address, nothing.

We're thinking the same. Odd as it seems, Christchurch has definitely become the nation's Second City, and the capital of the South Island. The rebuild insurance money looks like it will keep driving…

This is an almost reality for us give or take a couple of weeks. I can't tell you enough how good it feels. From a small bit of dirt/mortgage with high rates to…

providing your aspiration is horticulture.

(or rather the percentage of the total rates take that…

For sure, and it's not even true that renovations are worth less than what they cost, on the whole. I was being glib.

Painting would typically be a renovation that is…

I've been wary of cooperative land or lifestyle groups, mainly because I've seen the results of failed 70s communes and business ventures started by friends. When things go wrong the fallout can be quite spectacular.

Saying that... I recently found this fellow in…

Really I blame corporatised governments, ones that see no benefit in thinking a decade or two…

It will be good for the provinces and if enough people do it house prices will…

Its not a real valuation, done by a site inspection and measurements by an experienced valuer. Its a computer model which is then used to divide up the 'value' into a theoretical empty section and improvements.
For rates…

Munich is starting to appeal more than a return "home" to NZ.

LOL. Indeed. As with cars, renovations are seldom worth the money paid for them, so if you're a miser like me, you let other people do…

http://thewireless.co.nz/themes/change/living-in-an-ageing-society

Look at all those empty houses...

This can’t go on, surely.

For quite a while, yes. See: Manhattan

It may actually make sense for us to cash up and leave Auckland when the time comes.

The effects of this paper wealth are that my kids are seriously…