Property Talk: will we have a housing crash?

A house bubble, yes; a crash after an eight year cycle, no; expelling air, yes.

AUT construction management professor John Tookey was reacting to Finance Minister Bill English’s assertion there will be a property crash in Auckland in eight years when housing supply overtakes demand.

Mr English’s mandarins had come to this conclusion after looking at extensive US studies after the global financial crash.

Professor Tookey says the assumption is wrong because New Zealand doesn’t have big housing projects of 400-500 homes and the building industry is mostly made up of small builders with one or two homes on the go at the same time.

A range of other reasons will also stop a crash. Sally Lindsay has been looking at the possible scenarios.

The government’s decision to torpedo the Lochinver Station sale to Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin will have ongoing ramifications.

Colliers international says there are many aspect of the lengthy process to arrive at a decision not to allow the sale to go ahead that will be problematic for valuers.

Chris Hutching spoke to associate director Greg Petersen as about his claims.

Ports of Auckland will have to wait until June next year before it knows the fate of the downtown wharves.

The Auckland Council’s working party preparing the scope of the Port Future Study is about to appoint a consultant to undertake the bulk of the work on a 30-50 year plan for the wharves, which could including moving the port, moving part of its operations, or letting it stay where it is and expand.

The consultant’s work will be finished by May next year and report put before the council in June.

A long-closed landfill in Christchurch might be opened again.

Environment Canterbury is urging Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee to approve the reopening of the landfill north of Waimairi Beach 100 metres from the ocean.

As Chris Hutching explains it doesn’t make sense when a coastal hazard report will mean 18,000 LIMs on city properties will be tagged on the basis of sea rise risk to coastal property. 

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