More housing information
Demographia has just released its latest International Housing Affordability Survey. While some of their numbers come out a little different than those I've blogged about before, there aren't any surprises in it. The numbers reflect other surveys that I've seen, and some of the back-of-the-envelope calculations I've done myself. Once again, the numbers come out very poorly for NZ.
Auckland, Wellington, and Chch all appear on the list of the 50 least affordable cities in the surveyed countries, which includes NZ, Australia, the UK, Canada, and the US. To put it into perspective, the US cities that appear on the list are the expensive California cities (LA, San Fran, San Jose, etc.), Honolulu, West Palm Beach, NYC, and Boston--so no surprises there, either.
The 50 most affordable cities are all in the US (37 of 50) and Canada (13 of 50).
The survey compares median housing prices and median income to calculate affordability.
There are two things that those results do not reflect are interest rates and the quality of the housing. A 5/1 ARM is running about 10% here in NZ versus 5.25% for a similar mortgage in the US. Though closing costs are generally lower here, over the lifetime of the loan, the difference means literally tens of thousands of dollars.
As for the quality of NZ homes, it's generally poor by US standards (and from what my friends tell me, by UK standards too). Construction, fit and finish, and amenities are not commensurate with those one would find in US homes. Insulation, central heating, and double glazed windows are still largely 'luxury' items, generally found in only in more expensive homes.
This is how the story is playing in NZ and in Australia.
Auckland, Wellington, and Chch all appear on the list of the 50 least affordable cities in the surveyed countries, which includes NZ, Australia, the UK, Canada, and the US. To put it into perspective, the US cities that appear on the list are the expensive California cities (LA, San Fran, San Jose, etc.), Honolulu, West Palm Beach, NYC, and Boston--so no surprises there, either.
The 50 most affordable cities are all in the US (37 of 50) and Canada (13 of 50).
The survey compares median housing prices and median income to calculate affordability.
There are two things that those results do not reflect are interest rates and the quality of the housing. A 5/1 ARM is running about 10% here in NZ versus 5.25% for a similar mortgage in the US. Though closing costs are generally lower here, over the lifetime of the loan, the difference means literally tens of thousands of dollars.
As for the quality of NZ homes, it's generally poor by US standards (and from what my friends tell me, by UK standards too). Construction, fit and finish, and amenities are not commensurate with those one would find in US homes. Insulation, central heating, and double glazed windows are still largely 'luxury' items, generally found in only in more expensive homes.
This is how the story is playing in NZ and in Australia.
posted by Jon A at
8:27 AM
1 Comments:
hum, philly's not on either list. makes sense, i s'pose.
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