The good people at OneRoof were hinting at it the other day.
They were reacting to what I know to be a bit of a buzz within the real estate community that the Government are going to move on foreign buyers this year.
I talk to a lot of agents. They range from telling me it's on, to those who hope it's on, to those who want it to be on but aren't holding their breath.
Currently you can buy a house if you are Australian or Singaporean. Apart from that there are hoops and hurdles for some foreigners, but mainly you are blocked.
This of course is nonsense and National had a very elegant solution that carved out houses under $2m, which is the vast majority of sales, so the American who wanted to open a company and invest in jobs and expansion could also fork out $9m for a lovely place at Lake Hayes.
Winston was having none of that, so we are stuck.
The hope is Winston can be moved. The rumour grows that Winston might be about to be moved.
I hope so.
The latest word is $5m. If you have $5m or above anyone is welcome.
What we have to fear from that I have no idea.
What we know for sure is we are desperately short of money. We have a pile of work that needs doing and we need all the help we can get.
In my area right now are a handful of $10m+ houses that have been on the market for over a year. They haven't sold because no one here has that money for a house and those who do already have houses.
If you open the foreign investment door they would be snapped up.
We either want to do business or we don’t. We are either open to the world or we aren't.
The irony for me is Winston Peters of all people in his role as Foreign Minister seems to get that, as much if not more than anyone else and yet on housing he remains the xenophobic old relic he played so well 20 years ago.
Let's hope the year brings a bit of enlightenment and we can at last get on with it.
The good people at one roof were hinting at it. The other day they were reacting to what I know to be a bit of buzz within the real estate community that the government are going to move on foreign buyers this year. So I talked to a lot of agents and they ranged from telling me at the moment it's on, governor are going to move, to those who hope it's on, to those who want it to be on but aren't holding their breath currently. If you don't know, you can buy a house if you're an Australian or a Singaporean. Apart from that, there are hoops and hurdles for some foreign buyers, but mainly you're blocked. This, of course, is nonsense, and National had a very elegant solution that carved out house prices under two million dollars, which is the vast majority of sales. Of course, so if the American who wanted to open a company, invest in jobs and bring some expansion to the country, they could also fork out nine million dollars for a lovely place at Lake Hayes. Winston, of course, was having none of that, So we're stuck. The hope as Winston can be moved. The rumor grows that Winston might be about to be moved. I hope. So the latest word is five million. So, in other words, five million or above, anyone is welcome to buy a house in this country. What we have, I mean, what we have to fear from that, I've got no idea. What we know for sure is we are desperately short of money. We've got a pile of work that needs doing, and we need all the help we can get. In my area right now, there's a handful of ten million dollar plus houses for sale. They've been on the market for over a year. They haven't sold because no one here has that money for a house, and those who do already have houses open the foreign investment door, they would be snapped up. We either want to do business or we don't. We're either open to the world or we aren't. The irony for me is Peter's of all people, in his role as Foreign Minister, seems to get that as much, if not more than anybody else, and yet on housing he remains the xenophobic old relic he played so well twenty years ago. Let's hope the year brings a bit of enlightenment, ay and we can, at last and at least, get on with it. For more from the mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to news talks. It'd be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio