22 Comments

Congratulations 🎊 👏

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Thanks Ben. We’re having a lovely time.

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Indeed Congratulations Bernard and Lynn.

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Cp

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As a first home buyer in wishing, here is a few thoughts I have:

-the first home loan/grant income caps ($150k) are quickly becoming too low for a lot of people. I know of quite a few people that are rushing through purchasing before their annual salary raise, for example.

-the interest rates are a hard pill to swallow, if they can be swallowed at all, at the current level of house prices. ANZ just yesterday lifted all but one (3 years) of their rates for low equity borrowing above 7%. In addition, their rate of interest stress testing is almost at 9%. With house prices still above pre-COVID levels, these can be huge financial hurdles to get over.

And a big congratulations to you both. :)

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Thankyou Rory. The banks may get a bit friendlier. And good point on the cap. They’ll have to lift that again soon.

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Yes the govt and industry are obviously worried about the trajectory of house prices. First a release of "green shoots" articles, echoed around the mediasphere. Accompanied by regulatory tap turning to try and make it happen.

Real estate agents talk about "meeting the market." They really mean by this, be realistic. They don't mean this: https://imgur.com/a/IpA1dVx

(imgur link may ask if you're over 18.... sorry, nothing erotic here)

That kind of thing is scary! And it should also inform our discussion of things like land taxes and wealth taxes. The RV on this property is 1.5M

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Well done on 30 years of marriage. As far as the article goes, just what do you want done? Of course any lightening of the load on first home buyers may potentially raise home prices, but the alternative is to do nothing, which will only support the "investors". Frankly the headline looks like National Party propaganda, criticising anything that helps first home buyers over the "investors".

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Personally I think the way to help first home buyers is to bring the price of houses down. This would help first home buyers and definitely wouldn't help investors.

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Thanks John. Certainly not meant as propaganda. Both parties would like to claim credit. The issue is these subsidies don’t actually help get more people into housing. They just push up prices. What’s needed is supply.

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Yipee! We can do with some happy news in these rather dark times. All the best for the next 30.

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Thanks Beverley.

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Must admit if I was a first time buyer I would prefer lower prices rather than help to pay an inflated price and even more to a bank.

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Thanks Andrew. Trouble is, once you’re in the market, most people want it to stop falling then. The voting incentives change a bit.

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I certainly agree with you Philip, but the question is how?

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Scrap the bright lines test completely and introduce a Land Value Tax. How about that?

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I’m with you on that aaron. A deal to be done there.

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Support a land tax but why scrap the brightline test?

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Wonderful Bernard - huge congratulations to you both and here's to many more years of companionship, fun and serious journalism 🥂

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Thanks Gwani. We love the fun in particular.

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Congrats on your wedding anniversary ❤️

Do you have any advice for prospective home owners using the new charity org Aera?

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What about: Do the usual OE and earn money then come back and buy house. Simultaneously join protest against rentier capitalism

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