It says the zoning changes have changed the face of the city and quotes the Planning Institute of Australia’s head of policy Nicole Bennetts, who says: “Economists have analysed the outcomes and found it successful in increasing the number of homes”.
This is clearly good news and, as a global advert for New Zealand policy success, I’m sure Aucklanders will take it.
But it has left The Economy of Everything hosts Tamsyn Parker and Liam Dann scratching their heads on the latest episode of the weekly podcast.
While there had been progress on the supply side of the housing market, the debate around the newly adopted council planning rules suggested there was still a way to go, Dann said.
Parker applauded the new plan (itself described as a compromise by those pushing for more supply and high density) but questioned the success to date.
“If you’re going to intensify, it makes far more sense to intensify around train stations, bus stations, than out in the wops where they have to drive, and every time you intensify, there’s suddenly five extra cars parked on the street,” she said.
The improved affordability of housing in Auckland was really down to “a perfect storm” of events, Dann said.
“What looks like a glaring omission from this article to me is the extent to which the tanking of the Auckland economy has contributed,” he said.
Immigration numbers had plunged, unemployment had soared, and Auckland house prices had nominally fallen by 22% – or more than 30% in real terms when adjusted for inflation.
What wasn’t clear yet was the extent to which the property slump was driving Auckland’s poor economic performance in the past three years or the extent to which the poor performance was causing the housing downturn, he said.
But the increase in supply, particularly of townhouses and apartments, was clearly combining with low demand to slow the market.
“A lot of the Auckland economy seems reliant or connected to the property market,” Parker said.
“So, I can’t imagine that many connected to the property market are feeling particularly upbeat.”
This week, Dann and Parker also discuss the issue of older workers losing their jobs and take a look at expectations for next week’s Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Statement.
Listen to the full episode for the complete conversation.
The Economy of Everything is available on the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcasts.
The series is hosted by Liam Dann, business editor-at-large and Tamsyn Parker, business editor for the NZ Herald. Thanks to CMC Markets.