Housing costs driving inflation

new-zealand-council-of-trade-unions

Thu Jul 16 2015 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Housing costs driving inflation

Thursday, 16 July 2015, 1:23 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Council of Trade Unions

16 July 2015

“The annual increase in the consumer price index (CPI) would have been negative 0.4 percent instead of going up 0.3 percent if it hadn’t been for the 2.5 percent increase in housing, energy and property costs,” says CTU Economist Bill Rosenberg. “While petrol prices are on the rise again and drove the 0.4 percent increase in CPI inflation for the last three months, over the year it has been housing that has driven the CPI.”

Housing costs went up 3.4 percent in Auckland and 3.0 percent in Canterbury during the year. Nationally, rents went up 2.3 percent and home ownership (newly built homes excluding land) 5.3 percent.

“This reinforces the need for action on housing in Auckland. However general price inflation remains low, and along with falling dairy prices and flattening rebuild activity in Canterbury means the Reserve Bank should continue to lower interest rates alongside specific policies to address house price inflation and speculation. But they cannot fix the housing problem: that requires more effective Government action to curb speculation, control demand from high immigration, and build more houses,” Rosenberg says.

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from New Zealand Council of Trade Unions on InfoPages.