The head of the ANZ bank in New Zealand fears her Australian chief executive’s statement that home ownership “has become the preserve of the rich” is coming true here, too.
In an email to BusinessDesk, Antonia Watson, the chief executive of ANZ’s New Zealand unit and this country’s largest trading bank, said the bank’s group CEO Shayne Elliott was being “candid” in his remarks, published by the Australian this morning.
She warned that a combination of factors including galloping immigration, high construction costs and tight lending regulations risked creating “a tipping point for home ownership” in New Zealand, just as was occurring in Australia.
“This is a topic I have concerns about, too,” she said.
