By Bernard Hickey
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has announced Auckland rental property investors must have a deposit of at least 30% in a sweeping new escalation of its measures to try to slow house price inflation in Auckland.
However, the bank has eased the current Loan to Value Ratio (LVR) restrictions for property buyers outside Auckland and has exempted new builds from the new restrictions on Auckland rental property buyers.
Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler said in the news conference after the release of the bank's half-yearly Financial Stability Report that the bank's modelling suggested the measure could reduce Auckland house price inflation by 2-4% per annum and reduce Auckland sales volumes by 8-10%. He also said it would be useful for the Government to collect information on non-resident buying.
“Auckland’s median house price is 60 percent above its 2008 level, and house prices in Auckland have been rising rapidly since late last year," Wheeler said.
"This reflects ongoing supply constraints and increased demand, driven by record net immigration, low interest rates and increasing investor activity. Prices in the Auckland region have become very stretched, increasing the risk of financial instability from a sharp correction in prices," he said.
In response, the bank said it proposed the following changes to its LVR policy from October 1:
- It would require residential property investors in the Auckland Council area using bank loans to have a deposit of at least 30%.
- It would increase the existing speed limit for high LVR borrowing outside of Auckland from 10 to 15%, "to reflect the more subdued housing market conditions outside of Auckland."
- It would retain the existing 10% speed limit for loans to owner-occupiers in Auckland at LVRs of greater than 80%.
“We are proposing these adjustments to the LVR policy to more directly target investor activity in the Auckland region, where house prices relative to incomes and rent are far more elevated than elsewhere in New Zealand," Wheeler said.
“The objective of this policy is to promote financial stability by reducing the rate of increase in Auckland house prices, and to improve the resilience of the banking system to a potential downturn in the Auckland housing market.”
Wheeler said the new measures aimed to moderate housing demand, but policies to increase supply remained the key to addressing Auckland's housing imbalances.
New builds exempted
Deputy Governor Grant Spencer said the Bank would issue a consultation paper in late May providing further details and seeking feedback on the new LVR proposals.
“Prior to the proposed introduction of the policy in October, we expect banks to observe the spirit of the restrictions and not seek to expand high-LVR investor lending in Auckland," he said.
Wheeler later said the Reserve Bank expected the banks to observe the spirit of the new restrictions in the interim period before October 1 and he would be meeting the chairs of the banks and their executives to discuss the new restrictions.
“Given the importance of encouraging residential construction activity in Auckland, and consistent with the existing LVR policy, the proposed LVR restrictions will not apply to loans to construct new houses or apartments."
Spencer said the Reserve Bank was establishing a new asset class for bank loans to residential property investors. Banks would be expected to hold more capital against this asset class to reflect the higher risks inherent in such lending, he said.
“Following a lengthy consultation process, we have decided that a residential property investor loan will be defined as any retail mortgage secured on a residential property that is not owner-occupied.”
Holiday homes not covered, unless rented out
Spencer later clarified that the policy did not apply to holiday homes, although he said consultation would look at situations where holiday homes were rented out for periods.
A summary of submissions received in response to the consultation would be released later this month, and details would be provided on the implementation of the new asset class, including on the proposed capital treatment of residential investor loans.
The new asset class would take effect from 1 October 2015 for new lending, with a further phase-in period of nine months for the reclassification of existing loans.
“Given the broader risks facing the financial system, it is crucial that banks maintain their capital and liquidity buffers and apply prudent lending standards. Later this year the Reserve Bank will be reviewing bank capital requirements in light of global and domestic developments affecting the safety of the banking system,” Spencer said.
(Updated with more details, comments from news conference)
143 Comments
It's crunch time, the gig is up, the music has stopped and Wheeler has taken away the punch bowl.
Witness NZ at the peak of its prosperity, she's all down hill from here, and its a slippery slope all the way. You've got until Christmas to get everything thing in order, after that things are going to get real nasty.
I have to assume that Wheeler knows what he has done, and I think it may have been the least bad option, crash early and hope things wont get too out of control. He certainly saved John Key's carrier, since it will now be obvious who is responsible. Not that this can end any other way, but at least now we have a sacrificial lamb.
Good luck, and if I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!
You don't get it, do you? Investors/speculators have been the only thing underpinning the Auckland housing mania. The RBNZ just hiked margins by 50%, effectively locking them out of the market. How many PI's have greater than 30% equity? Without them the market can only go one way.
The NZ economy has had three foundations post GFC, Chch rebuild, which is past its peak, Auckland housing which has just been gut punched, and massive investment in the dairy sector which is taking a beating, and is about to be hospitalised.
At the end of the day. it's the flow that matters, and the tap has run dry.
Well, you just supplied the examples yourself. The U.S. Is bouncing back. Europe first had austerity and got their a** handed to them. Only recently have they started to abandon austerity a little. Japan is a different story because unfortunately Japan has shown that it barely capable of doing anything properly.
2008 the OCR was 8.25% today it's 3.5% and yet you think it's relatively high and still a lot room to cut? Living in your own private reality are you?
http://rbnz.govt.nz/monetary_policy/ocr/
Enough with the fear mongering. Let's look at the scenarios;
Investor sells to first home buyer: the renter becomes an owner
Investor sells to another investor: no change for renter
Investor sells to non-first home owner occupier: either of the above occurs at purchaser's existing home
Pure fantasy. Here is the likely scenario:
Less local investors to buy property (which they rent out to the poor to provide them shelter) and hence less competition for foreign investors (do they care about our poor?) Therefore more of New Zealand sold off to foreign interests.
Madness.
What hacks me off is, in terms of "you" if it was a risk and impact ONLY to the property gambler, honestly I wouldnt give a flying fig what their LVR, income or debt etc is, it would be none of my business or concern. When "you" is the tax payer ie me and my children I can see the risks that we will have a banking collapse and I as the tax payer and my children will be expected to bear that, on many levels ( collapsed economy, less public services, higher tax) not the gambler even though I benefited not. Not only that but my children who are too young to vote will be forced to bailout the OAPs who are old enough to vote responsibly but have not for years if not decades. A word comes to mind, its amoral.
and what hacks me off is the over generalization which dominates many postings on this site. To add to that, I'd say that almost all property speculators that I know are in their 30s and 40s and not quite OAPs. To blame or bash OAPs for more general societal issues is not addressing the real issue which is the rampant distortion of the economy by greed and entitlement. Most OAPs that I know are not in that category - and I'll stick with that generalization.
Didn't Mr Wheeler concede low interest rates were partly to blame for the outcomes Steven laments. Most OAPs own one home other than those the banks buy with their savings funded at below risk adjusted interest rate levels. In his own words:
"Auckland’s median house price is 60 percent above its 2008 level, and house prices in Auckland have been rising rapidly since late last year," Wheeler said.
"This reflects ongoing supply constraints and increased demand, driven by record net immigration, low interest rates and increasing investor activity. Prices in the Auckland region have become very stretched, increasing the risk of financial instability from a sharp correction in prices," he said.
Putting my self-interested cap on for a moment, I must thank Wheeler, Spencer and co for making it even more difficult for property investors to buy houses and supply people who want to rent with a house to live in.
I will of course now have less competition from other investors to lease my properties.
I can therefore expect to see demand for my properties increase, hence will be able to increase my rents.
Thank you to the Reserve Bank for helping my cash flows even more. I will be able to by more properties with my improving cash flows.
Not at all Value Added.
I figure that if someone makes it more expensive to provide a service ( ie a house to live in), then the price the user (ie the person paying rent) will pay for that service will rise.
As a long-term property owner, I will benefit from the person paying the rent having to pay more. So Wheeler and co have done me a favour. Do I think Wheeler and co have been fair on tenants? Hell NO. They are the ones who will cop it in the pocket.
BTW... I am not being "disingenuous." Never have been. I am a long-term property investor. No secrets. My experience of the property market is that I have done better by holding property and not selling, than others who are trading or speculating in the market. I have tenants who live for years in properties I own. They seem to love it 'cause they stay there ... believe me!
It's disappointing that you think I am not sincere in my views. I am. Any review of my comments on interest.co.nz will show absolute consistency on my part.
Are rents flat? Are they falling?
Well, over the precise, short period of time you might like to highlight, perhaps they are.
My experience: I own houses that once upon a time rented for $125 per week. They now rent for $380 per week. That once rented for $390 and now rent for $755 per week. I have lots of other examples. I acknowledge that perhaps, as the years have passed, rents were flat for a period of time. Perhaps they even fell for a period of time?
But I am a long-time investor. What is happening just now is only a short period in the time I have owned the properties and WILL own the properties.
You get hung up over what is the situation now. I think you have a developer/ trader's view of the markets. I have no need to comment on rents going up or down now or in the last little wee while. 'Cause over the long time I have owned property, rents rise (like capital values, by the way). Sure rents may not have risen in the last little while. But they rose before then, and they will rise in the future. And I will still be invested in the future.
My view: The yield (ie rents) from a property will increase as interest rates on bank accounts increases. As a long-time investor I can happily wait.
I'd like to know what your balance sheet looks like YL. However if it is as solid as you seem to imply, you are by a long shot in the minority. I'd put a decent fraction of PI's totally dependant upon rising values and rising rents. Even according to your view (rising interest rates) rents aren't going up, and with values falling, it's going to put the acid on PI's with a net equity of 20%, more so for those with negative cashflow.
Skudiv, the vast majority of residential properties don't have a mortgage secured on them. People have paid off the mortgages. I am not a "long shot in the minority."
Heavily indebted property owners are in the minority. Especially so with all the capital gain in Auckland over the last few years.
You seem fixated on the idea that every property owner bought 'last week with 110% borrowings' (for example)?
My situation: I have owned multiple properties since my early twenties, paying down the mortgages and keeping the properties as capital values and rents have increased. I now find myself with debt around 15% of total equity. Why would I be fearing the never-yet-arrived 'property collapse' some extremists on interest.co.nz keeping babbling about? (in fact the banks are emailing and ringing me saying "do you want to borrow more money?" I jest not here ... one bank manager, unprompted, estimated my borrowings on the portfolio I have with him at 9% debt-to-equity ratio. He was encouraging me to borrow more by pointing out how much equity I have.)
How's that for being really inefficient with my equity? 'Cause that's what I am being.
So I will of course be buying (not selling to pay down remaining debt) and, as I originally said, if Wheeler and co want to make it harder for others to buy, then who am I to complain? And who am I to complain if interest rates rise, making it harder for others to buy, and, in my opinion, pushing up yields?
That's actually even more conservative then I assumed. With 8% of Aucklands housing stock changing hands in the last 12 months alone, I'm gonna stick my neck out and say you are still in the minority. I'm not assuming everyone bought last week, just assuming most PI's keep their net equity between 60-80%.
As you say, Wheeler is attacking demand, and with prices at record highs on all measures this can only send prices one way. If it pushes prices down, and pushes yields up I think that would be a good, healthy thing, at the same time I'll agree with Olly, there will be tears.
The aggressive property investors maintain 20% equity.
They buy and renovate to recycle the deposit so they can buy again and renovate etc etc.
A rising market full of these types leads to what we have been seeing in auck.
And i can guarantee with 30% now the new level of dep to recycle from renovating they will drop the Auckland market like a lead balloon. Their game no longer works in Auckland.
The big question is how much have these sorts actually been influencing the market? Time will tell.
It's laughable really......
Some seem to think Financial Stability is about driving prices lower they are hoping for a crash and house price deflation......Yet the RBNZ's actions are to ensure that there is no house price deflation.....they don't want house prices going sideways...they want them going up......
When you have Government subsidies and these RBNZ policies.....YOU HAVE A ROYAL FLUSH!!!
Is it just local exposure the RBNZ is worried about?
At least monitor cash buyers and corresponding foreign exchange, since foreign investment isn't being addressed. They will not care if NZ buyers are being restricted from the market, the prices are already doing that.
Good on you Graham Wheeler. We all know deep down if the price increases in Auckland are allowed to keep rising as they are, an almighty pop must eventuate at some point. This would be bad for everyone.
The question for him is, how does he restrict Auckland prices without further penalizing the regions, or FHB's in Auckland.
This seems like a decent balance. Now we need some form of restriction placed on the cashed up foreign buyer. John Key.......now it's your turn to step up.
Hear Hear...Did you say step up, but mean "Wake Up"
To little too late, is my opinion. Digging us into a hole, then bailing out by flogging off our assets to overseas interests is not my idea of "Good Management"
Just like best practice is never the same as best practise first. And getting it wrong.
Solid Energy. Always comes to mind. Going for broke was the Governments urge. So they could flog it off. Look where that got the West Coast etc.
And look what Fonterror has done by exporting our expertise. Dumb as the Kiwis Fruit industry who did the same, then allowed PSA in via Border Un-control to decimate the business..
IP is a bit rich, but not when you give it away. Then allow the customer to steal your land, your business and your lively hood and your house, your jobs, your Mana and the Public Purse. Changing Flags...I say America first...China last...if I was gonna hedge my bets.
But I do not want any of them. Not at any price.
You forgot the star of the show.
LIC ventured a _loan_ to a Chinese seed development company, and then GAVE them the LIC genetic database (50 years of genetic profiling of food ruminants....potentially one of THE single most valuable transferable items on the planet, and an advantage that is singularly impossible to catch up on).
Sorry Cowboy...I used to be affiliated with both Fonterror and LIC...from way back..How can I forget.....EASILY.
.So I know where you are coming from. And I know where they are going too.
I do not think they have a way back.?!
It was apparent even then...many moons ago. And they developed the wrong attitudes.
Some even hated the Farmers, they should have served...better.
As wasteful as a a Co-op can be, with 'other people's munny'
Lived high on the hog, breeding wasteful full Management, bleeding their customers dry. Profligate and wanting to expand their customers horizons, but killing the fatted calf and didn't understand what the Companies actually stood for. IE. SERVING THEIR CLIENTEL. not the overseas interests and them selves...first..
I could go on. But I am glad my experience was not quite like yours.
Get over it, get a life, control your own overheads....and may you live long and prosper.
Do not live by their example. ...or the ones I did display above.
Those overseas funded buyers do not threaten the NZ banks financial stability. If there is a crash, those people who have borrowed money overseas, well their bank loses out. Who cares!!! Locally there is just one more mortgagee sale. Kind of adds to the crash though.
Agree they don't threaten NZ financial stability, and in fact this is the best type of foreign investment: they buy at peak, then sell when it crashes. Net result: NZ wins.
This happened spectacularly with a small dairy company in South Canterbury a few years ago - a Russian company bought it out when no-one in NZ would/could put money into it, then they got into trouble and sold it at a massive loss to Fonterra shortly afterwards!
What does a 30% deposit mean in practice? For example, to what extent could banks let existing property owners draw down on the book value equity of a property and use that as a deposit?
I guess if this has a significant impact, it will become more apparent how many sales are being financed by non-domestic banks.
As long as the mortgage from which one is withdrawing equity remains within the 70:30 ratio - that I assume could still happen.
Even so, this is a dampener - as many rentals are already financed on low deposits and given rents are not rising at the same rate as house prices - equity is not reducing significantly for those highly leveraged rental investors.
It's a sensible move - and I suspect will have an immediate effect in lessening the competition where FHBs are concerned.
You have confused correlation with causation. I can explain how this differs though, generally PI's have always needed a 20% deposit, the 5% deposit generally only went to owner occupiers. So the increase in LVR's had a negligible impact on PI's, because they were already at 20%. A 50% margin hike is pretty much guaranteed to push prices down.
Sensible and overdue response from the RBNZ.
The LVR limits that were introduced earlier had little real effect on the regional areas. The Banks already had a very cautious approach to lending in areas with flat house prices so no significant change there with the introduction of 80% LVR limits. The more targeted approach is a good one.
The LVR stuffed the regions which are still below 2007 levels. Just as the regions were beginning to recover the RB bought in the lvr limits and stuffed the regions again.
And, the chinese will continue to borrow from chinese banks at 0% and smash local buyers who now have to stump up a 30% deposit. I'm guessing the RB have a lot of chinese mates.
Decision made only at the banks interest to avoid a pop in the short term.
Forgetting about to other problems this causes long term, social injustices pricing kiwis out, delaying the inevitable correction.
The problem with housing supply at the moment is not regulatory, its practical construction - there aren't enough tradies to fuel my sites so they're sitting there half finished.
Better off to remove the restrictions and let the market correct before it it really does bubble and explode.
I can see the Government cleaning this up in the medium term. Perhaps wiping it up with that new flag
I think this is the most critical question of all. If all investor debt being rolled over needs 30% equity this will be an absolute game changer. An investor looking down the barrel is not going to wait until the debt needs to be rolled over - or at least they shouldn't be.
Might be an interesting winter selling season. Perhaps a lot of investors will lock in 5 year borrowing before October to buy themselves a few years?
It will only apply to extra lending not rolled over debt. Hopefully it catches out the sean "15 million dollar man" woods types who ķeep ignorantly (of real economics past how to sell things) hyping auckland property. A lot south auck do ups that they're going to be stuck with. Should of been buying where yields make sense outside of auck where prices are supported by more than hot air
It will only apply to extra lending not rolled over debt. Hopefully it catches out the sean "15 million dollar man" woods types who ķeep ignorantly (of real economics past how to sell things) hyping auckland property. A lot south auck do ups that they're going to be stuck with. Should of been buying where yields make sense outside of auck where prices are supported by more than hot air
New lending rules targeting Auckland residential property investors will cool the market somewhat - but the city's "gravitational pull" will counter any impact, Prime Minister John Key says
john key speak for will make no difference to foreign buyers and I am going to do nothing to solve it
Funny you mention the regions; the only thing stopping the RB from dropping the OCR is Auckland house price inflation. If we see house price growth slow in Auckland we will almost certainly see the OCR and interest rates dropped; this will have a duel effect. First, it will give Auckland prices a soft landing. Second, it will fuel bubbles elsewhere in the country and this second point begs the question... where's next?
and what do we do with mum and dad investors? They are not a problem?
So the problem is not speculation, is speculation from overseas?
I rather have speculators from overseas borrowing overseas than risking our financial system in the way we are doing it (by allowing this situation).
If only the story about "cashed up foreigners" driving up prices were true..
Is it that difficult to see that property "investment" (gambling) is a social disease that affects the common NZers?
The only solution to foreign buyers is to vote Winston Peters.
I've never voted for the guy, and usually voted act or national.
But, I think we are losing our culture so it is time to get Winston to sort this out.!!!!!! Despite other things I don't like about him.
Not that many bothered to actually read the manifestos, but all the main opposition parties (Green, Labour, NZFirst) had stated policies to restrict foreign buyers at the last election.
All you really had to do was not vote for National. Seems like a lot of people are coming to regret it now.
No one in their right mind will vote anything other than National at the next election unless the left get their act together. No rational person can look at Labour, Greens, Mana and Winston and honestly say they will be an effective working team. National didn't win the last election, the left and Dotcom lost it.
every party except national and ACT are saying bring in restrictions on foreign ownership, but then we know what happens to their ex MPs, brash, Richardson, Shipley, tremain.all on the boards of Chinese banks that have opened branches in NZ. not to forget all the other Chinese company boards containing ex Nat MPs.
Philip field got sent away for giving out work permits for free work on his houses, just saying hmmmm
"Loosing our culture"?
And what is exactly the NZ culture we are "loosing"? What is NZ but a young country that has borrowed cultures from so many different countries around the world?
Or do you mean the "Maori culture"? I'm afraid it's long lost..
There is not such a thing as NZ culture no matter how often they mention "what kiwis like and don't like" in commercial ads. It's just an attempt to create a national identity that doesn't exist ..yet
Sorry but many other countries like BBQs and playing in and around the water as well :-)
And that's not bad, I'm far from trying to criticize NZ multicultural civilization (I'm also an immigrant here like many of us or our close ancestors and proud to feel integrated in the NZ civilization)
So.. no. We (older and newer NZers) are not loosing our culture, we are still defining it.
..or is it mainly about Asians but we're trying here to add some "foreigner" camouflage? :)
..or is it that we can allow mum and dad investors making profit at the expenses of future generations as long as they hold a NZ passport despite not paying capital gain taxes that compensate the whole society?
PD: I agree there are other options than voting for NZ First to stop this speculation madness that will damage us all eventually.
This will do nothing to discourage the foreign investors. The latest practice I've seen is agents (on behalf of foreign buyers) approaching property owners who don't even have their house on the market and convincing them to sell. They offer above top dollar just to secure the property without it hitting the open market.
Foreign investors is the job of the govt - if they had got off their backside and actually done something then the RBNZ may not have needed to do this.
RBNZ is financial stability, govt is all the rest.
Go and ask your local national mp what they are doing about this?
So you've purchased an investment property with 10% equity, let's call it $50k ($500k property). You've borrowed with interest only and made a 30% gain, so you now have almost exactly 30% equity ($450k debt, $650k property value) - so you are JUST able to scrape in and roll over the existing debt.
Where does the 30% equity for the next property come from? Keeping in mind 30% of the now $650k property is nearly $200k.
If you've purchased during this 'boom' with a small deposit I don't think your argument holds. Taking the above example, a lot of investors who purchased in the last 24 months or so might not even have the 30% equity to roll over the debt! Uh oh......
Agree that some will be effected, those very close to the wire, most of the bigger players already hold greater than 70% LVR.
The last LVR introduction, 80% LVR to the whole market, gave the upper hand to investors and foreign buyers. I wonder what the unintended consequences of this latest decision will be... What group will be dealt the upper hand by this...
... still no one is addressing the actual problem .... the horrendous escalation in land prices over the past decade or so ...
Everyone from the stoopid local media , to the politicians , to local government , is side-tracked with non-issues such as foreign investors , house prices , CGT ....
... it's the cost of sections , guys ... focus on that , solve the problem .... introduce a land tax for one , allow intensification of land use for the other .... problem solved ... bugger it , no one's listening ... hmmmmmm , where's me Gummies ..... yummmmmm..... gooey-goodness .... ahhhhhhhhhh...
... I was taking a wild guess that you're a curmudgeonly 16yo girl who wishes to spend oodles of quality time in a Thai sex-re-orientation clinic , to eventually come out as an old man in real life ...
Was I right ? .... or was I RIGHT !!! .... I was right , wasn't I !
A step in the right direction. Further risk could be eliminated by extending the LVR limit to all property buyer types, once prices have started tracking back to an average affordability of 3 times household income level. Up until the end of the 1970s, 65% LVR was considered the higher end of bank risk (which is why that 65% of the overall valuation figure became the standard maximum mortgage recommendation which appeared on registered property valuations right up to the modern era, despite all banks ignoring it).
The 1970's a period of great inflation and a period that proves LVR's ensure property prices move higher!!
Back in the 70's agriculture was the subsidised business of the day......now it's housing with WFF, accommodation supplements etc, so what happens when all that political and bureaucratic interference finally breaks the camel's back.....will we slide into a deep recession?
Roll-overs of mortgages??? That's not a thing - a mortgage is held perpetually until it's discharged, you might be thinking of a fixed rate rollover on a homeloan - that wouldn't be affected (except potentially from a pricing perspective). It would likely stop you refinancing if you didn't meet the new criteria however, so you'd be stuck with your current bank.
Loving the whining coming from the landed gentry right now... "Oh but however will I be able to house the poor now that my costs have increased. God forbid I have to exit the market and allow these creatons to buy houses for themselves.”
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Well done, that man, with what little means he has to do anything at all. Ball now firmly in the govt's court and they need to step up now and do something about foreign ownership of housing, the first easiest thing they could do is remove residential housing from the Investor category for foreigners seeking residency. They allowed it to be included, they can remove it, then they can knuckle down and sort the whole issue out after that.
Truly marvellous !! .....the Awklund madness continues. This LVR increase will not make one iota of difference to this market !! The FHB's are nicely locked out of the market by the already existing 20% LVR. This move today by the RB just makes it that much harder for new PI's wanting to start or expand their "portfolio" (I hate that word !!) in the Awklund market......and to add to that, WHY would you want to buy at these prices anyway !
So in general, the screws are tightening for the local market ......BUT BOTH THE RB AND GOVERNMENT ARE IGNORING THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM ...THE OVERSEAS BUYERS !!!
I thought the Government were meant to be for the people that live here ! .... not for some foreign wealthy industrialist from some polluted crap hole, who wants a bolt hole for themselves and their family, with clean air & water and uncrowded conditions.
John Key and his ilk are running this country for a select group of locals and is so desparate for income, he has to open up the country for sale to the highest bidder !! .....He will NEVER acknowledge the percentage of foreign buyers in Awklund to any one, as it is not in his INTEREST to do so !! ....... Truly Marvellous !!
The RB will be watching how this plays. They will implement more draconian rules if it doesn't. Do you really think Wheeler will want to retire leaving a legacy of failure. This is just the first round in a long and difficult fight. This is not the right time for anyone to buy, be they investors or FHB.
That doesn't change the fact that you'd be able to buy less new property at 70% than you would at 80% LVR. E.g. if your 'portfolio' (as they like to call it) is worth $5 mil and you have $3 mil of debt against it, you can buy another $1.5 mil worth of housing at 70% total LVR, compared to the previous $5 mil you could have bought at 80% LVR - that's a hell of a reduced spending spree you're afforded by your paper gains.
Wheeler's rating gets praise by many above.
Does he deserve an A?
My opinion FWIW is that he should be discounted for being :
A BIT LIGHT on the proposed action.
A BIT LATE
A BIT SLOW on implementation. He has enough staffing power to have action ready to implement
immediately.
A BIT UNDERPOWERED on his approach to Government.
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