Cooking the Books podcast: Will a foreign buyers ban help you get a house?

For this podcast I talk to NZ Herald property editor Anne Gibson about whether banning foreign buyers would actually help New Zealanders buy their own homes. Photo / 123RF

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's whether it's about to get easier to buy your own home. Hosted by Frances Cook.

Listen to "Cooking the Books: Will a foreign buyers' ban help you get a house?" on Spreaker.

First-home buyers will be crossing their fingers and toes that relief is on the horizon, with the Labour Government working on plans to ban foreign buyers from our housing market.

It's a strong move, designed to ease the pressure that's seen home ownership slip out of the reach of ordinary New Zealanders.

It's one that appeals to me at first blush. Keep New Zealand homes for New Zealanders, not some foreign landlord that makes us tenants in our own country.

It's simple supply and demand; if you reduce the competition for a house, down from the whole world, to just New Zealanders, the prices will surely fall.

But the devil is always in the detail with these issues and housing is a particularly devilish issue.

We still need new homes built here, and some say this move will stop the foreign investment that drives big projects like apartment blocks.

It could also cause problems for companies trying to go about the business that keeps many of us employed, and the economy ticking over.

I talked to NZ Herald property editor Anne Gibson about whether banning foreign buyers would actually help New Zealanders buy their own homes.

We discussed what the ban is likely to include, the possible drawbacks for businesses and development, and what difference first-home buyers will notice.

For the episode, listen to the podcast.

If you have a question about this podcast, or an idea for the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.

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