Selling below valuation in Auckland? Okay rather suspicious but then again I have seen properties sell in Papakura either AT valuation level or well above it. It depends on the circumstances the new owner might have.

Also going to put the comment made over at DimPost that caught my attention as well:

We’re not actually in the middle of a property boom, are we, Danyl? We’re in the middle of a housing crisis and the Government needs to sell houses in order to free up some cash for their plans to build a lot more houses in order to dampen down demand. Work & Income are paying out record amounts of accommodation supplements because of high rents, so surely part of the solution is to make sure that low income families are able to buy their first home with the help of Government incentives. I also think that we can’t rule out the possibility of implementing rent controls. So, currently when you rent a house, the landlord can legally only put the rent up by a certain percentage each year. Yet if you move out and a new tenant comes in, the rent can go up exponentially. This means that a small wooden house in Christchurch can be rented out for $360 per week by a couple that have been there for ten years and when their renewal comes around in November their rent will be increased to $380 per week; their friends who have just moved in to an identical property across the road are paying $480 per week and when they have their renewal in one years’ time their rent will be going up to $505 per week. This is a loophole in the system that needs to change. People say that Warrant of Fitness checks on all rental properties wouldn’t work because rents would go up but the fact of the matter is that rents are already capped in New Zealand for existing tenants and the other loophole that could see rents rise, new tenants, simply needs to be closed with the use of a National register of investment properties. This register would also ensure that foreigners couldn’t buy an unlimited amount of investment properties as they can now. Nick Smith was right to assert that, while foreign ownership only makes up around eight percent of the properties in Auckland, in an overheated market this is very detrimental to that market.

Comment by Daniel Lang — June 15, 2015 @ 1:36 pm

The reason for me reblogging this is because when you have a large chunk of your Opposition failing (and heck Labour is quite successful in doing that at the moment and pretty much nothing else) then our democracy is in trouble.

Our democracy relies on both a “strong government,” a “strong opposition,” and “strong cross benches (where a Party acts in a more independent manner siding with both sides depending on the issue).”

If we have a sick opposition at central level it does affect at Local Level such as Auckland Council as well. We have no leverage nor alternative to seek out on prickly issues such as the City Rail Link (which we should just do ourselves any way). This is because there is a lack of central opposition doing its job in both putting a torch under the Government’s backside AND (and this is where the USA has some advantage over us) force more bi-partisan agreements.

But looking at the original blog post in which I am reblogging on it seems Labour the opposition continue to immolate itself and to borrow the dogged phrase from National; not focusing on things that really matter…..

(Bread, butter, work, house, amenity are things that matter to most as absolute priority)

“I don’t know what we’re supposed to call this mode of government,”

The term is Social Conservative which is where Labour and New Zealand First usually sit.

We had a Social Conservative Budget passed and one indeed the Greens should have claimed as a victory even if a minor one (on lifting core benefits and getting Government to just even talk poverty).

Labour had a shocker over the last 24 hours and only got their collective s$%& together a few hours ago by announcing the resumption of the Kickstart for KiwiSaver which National have dropped.

All in all with the Budget?
Yep an English Social Conservative Budget demonstrating the Social Conservative Faction well in control on contrast to the Collins/Slater/DPF faction.

English has always earned my admiration and respect whether I like his policies or not. Given that I have had a few cups of teas and the odd hot breakfast over time with English.

Maybe next year Bill we can get the Auckland Transit Link (CRL) going and split KiwiRail into two. The freight side handled by KR and the tracks passed over to NZTA.

In effect it a small strengthening of our existing laws around taxation of gains made in the sale of residential property.

I suppose some wider questions now come to mind such as ‘Why now” and “Has National lost the narrative (spin) on this one?”

I suppose if a Government was being serious a Capital Gains Tax would be universalised to include the Family home backed by a 1% of Rateable Value Vacant Land Tax to be paid annually.