Rough housing situation in New Zealand

Over growth and urban sprawl, as well as overpriced housing will make New Zealand less worth of property investors.

Several problems exist in New Zealand currently, including over priced property which was recently said to be most expensive in the world, over Australia, the UK and the US, as determined by Demographia's annual survey.

More so, urban sprawl and over growth areas are threatening the quality of life and overall affordability of the location.

While cities continue to grow in housing values, the ability to find affordable housing outside the cities is difficult. The residential construction sector in New Zealand wants more sections of the country to be freed up, so that they can develop more affordable housing options.

With further investigation, the government and other experts here believe that there is much more to the problem than is being reported. The problems lie throughout the country including inefficient demand for water, waste and transport services.

In Auckland, urban limitations are placed in terms of how much the city can expand. Yet, this is not currently the problem since these limits were extended five times since 1999, which added 1500ha that can be developed as needed.

Even affordable housing when found is complicated due to its location, which is often farther away from employment, and offers poor infrastructure and cost efficiency.

For the investor, New Zealand may not look promising until such problems are results enough to drop housing values to more affordable levels, or to open new developments encouraged by property investors.