Cotality's Housing Affordability numbers paint what even a sceptic would have to agree is a pretty good picture of our housing market. 

Especially for first timers and when you compare us to Australia. 

Australia's market is a mess, and one of the biggest messes within the mess is the result of their Labor Government changing tax deductibility around landlords and expenses. 

Labour here did it and it had a similar result. 

Under our current Government they restored deductibility and the proof is there for all to see. 

Investors are part of the market. The first-time buyer is in clover, and rents are flat as a pancake. 

For landlords and some others who want capital return in double digits, this won't be the greatest of news. 

But many have argued for years that housing needs to be more affordable and the Cotality numbers show now it is 7.2 times the average wage versus as high as 10 times a few years back. 

The lesson, if Labour here wants to learn it, is investors aren't crooks. They're not nasty people looking to enslave tenants. They're businesspeople who simply want a fair shake. 

In Australia the market is in free fall, investors have fled, applications for mortgage money have tanked, and the value of houses is falling as the auction clearance rate each weekend craters. 

In a single move in this year's Budget, Albanese and Chalmers have managed to upend what for most Australians is their dream. 

And that is the other part of our story and Cotality's numbers – the first home buyer has never been a bigger part of the market. 

Why is that? Because despite all the energy put into trying to convince people otherwise, we have a love affair with real estate. 

Even though the youth of today are a world away from what we used to be in terms of lifestyle and attitude and world view, what hasn’t changed is the desire to own your own home. Your castle. 

So in New Zealand we are stable, predictable, and more affordable. 

In Australia they're collapsing, panicking, and chaotic. 

That’s a story for us to be proud of.