17 Nov 2020

Govt under pressure over skyrocketing house prices

From Checkpoint, 6:07 pm on 17 November 2020

Jacinda Ardern's considering options to help first home buyers bulk up their deposit - as the government comes under pressure from all sides over skyrocketing house prices.

The market continues to defy predictions of a post Covid slump, with prices hitting new records around the country.

Former Labour Finance Minister Michael Cullen has sounded the alarm over the amount of cheap money sloshing around helping to fuel the housing boom, while National's calling on the government to rein in the Reserve Bank.

Helping driving demand are record low interest rates, with the Central Bank also proposing a massive lending programme offering banks interest rates of almost zero, with the aim of stimulating the economy.

Here's our political editor, Jane Patterson.