Aucklanders about to lose equity in homes, Winston Peters says
NZ First leader say it's going to be 2008 all over again if the government doesn't change the Reserve Bank Act, plus move against land bankers.
"There’s a day of reckoning coming for us, sad to say. A lot of people in Auckland are about to lose their equity in their homes as they did in 2007 and 2008 when the market collapsed," NZ First leader Winston Peters said on TVNZ's Q+A programme.
"Now, a wise government would step in and try and stabilise things, cut back on demand, stop offshore buying. Second thing is cut back on this massive immigration – which is not about production, remember this; it’s about consumption," he said.
The government announced tighter rules for foreign buyers and house flippers today, but it is the Reserve Bank Act and land bankers who are in Mr Peters' sights.
"Number one, I’d change the Reserve Bank Act to reflect that we are as much now as we ever were an export-dependent economy ... you lower interest rates effectively," the Northland MP said. "But you do not allow the sort of bench speculation that comes from that to happen."
When asked whether he would legislate to force land bankers to give up their land, Mr Peters said, “Hong Kong does. Hong Kong says, 'Oh, yes, you can come in and you can land-develop. But if you don’t develop off the plans you gave us with the permission you asked for, within two years, bang. You’ve lost those rights.' But we won’t, as a parliament, take any steps at all, because we’re too scared of what you might call 'unbridled capitalism in this country', which is not working for about 90% of New Zealanders," he said.
Watch the full interview here.
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Aucklanders about to lose equity in homes, Winston Peters says
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