Political parties, real estate firm donations, commission and house prices

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Real estate political party donors will do very well if Act are able to allow foreign buyers or gift landlords $billions. But there’s really no conflict of interest eh? Really. Companies will still charge 3.95 percent commission even if the house prices have doubled or tripled. That’s a pretty good whack for a few weeks work especially if the vendor pays all the costs to go to auction and then also pays a full commission. Allowing overseas buyers to buy our houses increases the pool of people who can buy properties so creates a scarcity and pushes prices up and out of the reach of NZers. Great for that commission though. Add that to the landlords who will use their tax rebate to buy more property and we’re facing more price rises. Those party political donors like real estate firms will certainly recoup their donation money in record time. Since when did our government wish to become real estate agents for overseas purchasers and to exacerbate an already dire housing situation? It’s interesting that house prices were decreasing under our Labour government and first home buyer numbers were increasing. I expect that will change.

MARY-ANN de KORT