Editorial: Tax move hits at the Kiwi way

It is predicted that, at the current rate of house inflation, the average Auckland home will hit $1 million in 17 months.

Well, that's the end of the television show The Block.

The new rules taxing capital gain on residential properties introduced to try to curb the soaring Auckland property market have put paid to that.

The new law means owners who sell a residential property within two years of purchase will now have to include the profit in their income tax return, unless it is the family home, inherited or sold in a relationship split.

You can hardly call houses on The Block family homes.

Once again it's the people with little money and working their hardest who get knocked back.

Buying a "doer-upper" has long been a traditional Kiwi way to make a bit of money.

Buying a bit of a dump, living rough and working hard renovating at the weekend and after work is something thousands of New Zealanders have done over the years.

It's a way to climb the property ladder without borrowing so much money you can't afford to go to the movies.

If this new law is aimed at slowing down the rising Auckland property market - and it is predicted that, at the current rate of house inflation, the average Auckland home will hit $1 million in 17 months - then it should apply to Auckland alone.

It's already near-impossible for young people to buy a house and I've noticed recently that properties in Hawke's Bay are on the market for only a short time.

Perhaps the rest of New Zealand has finally realised there is no better place to live but the Bay.