Should real estate agents be spending more time and energy trying to inform vendors on the reality of the property market? File photo / Doug Sherring
Anne Gibson's article (Weekend Herald, May 25) was interesting. There is only one reason a well-advertised house in a high growth city does not sell; the price is too high.
During the debt-fuelled property boom, prices, as with any market, went
over the top. This was particularly true of the North Shore, where the prevalence of foreign buyers was exceptionally high. It is an economic fact that when the price of a product is reduced, sales volumes increase. If the real estate industry wishes to increase its sales volume it needs to accept this and focus on conditioning vendors to the new market. Extreme unaffordability means exactly that.
Can there really be anything wrong with raising the standard of rental properties, especially where health is involved? Of course the knockers are already at the door, with Judith Collins leading the charge. Her concern is not that so many renters live in substandard environments but that some landlords will have to pull out of a very lucrative game. Mathematically, it must mean less rentals, more opportunities for first-home buyers.
This is not about taxes or hitting on landlords, it's about a dry home for all, especially the young and old who are the most vulnerable. This is a win-win situation where dry warm homes means better health and attitude to life. There has to be an insulation standard for rental properties otherwise we show complete disregard for the wellbeing of others.
Reg Dempster, Albany.
In celebrating the Auckland Harbour Bridge turning 60, let's not forget who saved that bridge: the William C Daldy. When gale-force winds threatened to blow away the centre span of the bridge while it was still on a barge, the 38m steam tug William C Daldy went out to hold on to it for 36 hours at full ahead. The remarkable vessel with the same type of engines as the Titanic is still steaming around Auckland harbour in full survey thanks to a group of hard working volunteers who keep this piece of New Zealand maritime history alive.
Darshani Jayasinghe, Hillsborough.
Your correspondents and the Government seem sceptical of the benefits of a tax on sugary drinks. I have three questions for them: Do they want serious action on reducing the overweight and obesity affecting a third of our children? Do they want serious action on reducing the 7000 operations under general anaesthetic every year on young children to remove rotten teeth? Should those actions be guided by the best available international evidence? If their answers are yes, yes and yes, then we need to enact the recommendations from many authoritative reports, including from the World Health Organization. Taxing sugary drinks is always in the top recommended policies. It is not a magic bullet, but it clearly reduces the consumption of sugary drinks and is pro-equity because the biggest effects are usually in the more disadvantaged populations. Unfortunately, the ideology against using taxes to influence consumption (we already do this for tobacco and alcohol), the pressure from the sugary drinks lobby, and a misguided faith in health education solutions means we end up saying no, no and no to better health for our children.
Professor Boyd Swinburn, Health Coalition Aotearoa.
I grew up in Central Hawke's Bay, then I lived in Palmerston North for nearly 30 years. I watched the gangs move from the city centre in Palmerston North to the outskirts of town.
This was due to a bylaw put in place by the city council - gang patches were not to be worn in public and, if so, the wearer would be arrested. This worked a treat and the city felt safer, especially because late-night shopping on Friday and Thursday nights and many young people went into the central city on a Friday night.
Since moving back to Hawke's Bay, I have noticed the amount of gang patches being worn in public.
My three children will not wear the colour red in Hawke's Bay but have no problem wearing this colour anywhere else they live or have lived, e.g. Wellington, Auckland, Palmerston North.
I find it really sad that this weighs on young people's minds as to what colour to wear when they get up in the morning.
Something needs to be done about these gangs to keep this beautiful part of the country feeling like a safe and warm place to live as well as visit.
B Butler, Hastings.
I am an 88-year-old male still with most of my marbles and I do not want this foolish unasked-for intention to go ahead. I have already had a vocal discussion with TSB on the matter, with very little sympathy received, and the same lack of empathy from Kiwibank.
It is my opinion that the internet is a dangerous medium to connect one's hard-earned pension to, considering the amount of scams of all sorts that are now endemic on it.
There are thousands of retired Kiwis who, like me, do not want to do our banking by the internet, many of us do not even have a mobile phone.
One excuse is that it is costing banks extra money to use paper transactions, yet the banks are all making record profits, even while paying their senior staff exorbitant inflated salaries.
David Johnston, Okura.
I suspect that for a long time, someone has been leaking government papers to the script writer for The Simpsons.
Peter Culpan, Te Atatu Peninsula.
If the average hourly rate for a teacher is $22, that makes them $3 above the minimum wage and, by the end of 2020, only $2 above. Zero chance of ever owning a house in Auckland. Perhaps they should just strike in Auckland to give Aucklanders a taste of what Auckland's schools will look like in 2021.
Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
What a pleasure to read Simon Wilson's informed and researched contribution on Saturday. His thoughtful and professional journalism is first class and leaves the shallow, repetitive and biased contributions from the radio jocks in the shade.
Bill Mathews, St Marys Bay.
If there was any useful outcome gleaned from the emissions of protest from the youthful climate change gurus, it was at least to wake up the elephant in the room - that the planet is straining under over-population and so therefore people need to heed the call to limit the size of their families.
Colleen Wright, Botany Downs.
Cook was a celebrated explorer who treated his people well and respected those he encountered along the way. We should be very, very glad of his contribution. Lizzie, If you promise not to re-write history I will promise not to ever sing in public.
Murray Reid, Cambridge.
The education department is getting teachers to arrive here from other countries but immigration won't visa them because the pay rate is too low. It reads like the Mad Hatter's tea party. How stupid can governance get? Chris Hipkins at large? You go guy.
Jim Carlyle, Te Atatu Peninsula.
Why doesn't the Government front up and insist the makers of sugary drinks lower the sugar content or face a hefty fine? People who like these sugary drinks will still buy them tax or no tax.
B A Mudford, Matamata.
I always question those who call on more taxation. Disguised as a concern for the public health, you can guarantee that the taxes they are calling for do not apply to them.
Kent Millar, Blockhouse Bay.
Jacinda Ardern on Mike Hosking Breakfast scorecard: Um's and ah's: 87. Substance: 1.
Dennis Knill, Parnell.
Last weekend's Canvas gave us the very nice side of Judith Collins in a "From Crusher With Love" story, but I'm not entirely convinced. We still may need a 007 on standby, just to be on the safe side.
Dean Donoghue, Papamoa Beach.
I am a positive, caring, creative teacher who is getting the life sucked out of me. If Labour doesn't sort this mess out they will have far more people needing mental health care.
Christine Eadie, Ellerslie.
Can we presume that all Republicans will be going to work on Monday?
Alan Boniface, Snells Beach.
Has anybody noticed the rapid increase in the number of nodding donkeys behind our political leaders during interviews with the media? Have we enlisted choreographers under the skilled migrant category from China and North Korea?
John Windle, Cambridge.
Investigations found a Gisborne restaurant illegally selling tobacco to the public.