ANZ economists warn against new housing optimism

ANZ economists are making cautionary noises about the housing market, after some indications emerged on Friday that general sentiment could be improving.

The ASB housing confidence survey for the three months ending January found 53 per cent of respondents think now is a good time to buy a house, up from 45 per cent the previous quarter.

Today the ANZ economists said they were "amused" by the suggestion that now could be a good time to buy houses.

They acknowledged the reasoning looked secure when considered alongside low mortgage rates, poor investment alternatives such as falling term deposit rates, and potentially recovering migration.

But the ANZ economists also pointed to other factors such as rising unemployment, the extended nature of New Zealand house prices relative to income, global de-leveraging now under way, and attention now being paid to fundamentals.

To read the full NZ Herald story click here

Posted: 3 Mar 2009

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