The slump in New Zealand’s housing market has long been the subject of domestic scrutiny – now it’s making waves internationally.
In a piece titled The World’s Most Extreme Housing Boom Is Now Roiling an Entire Economy, global business news leader Bloomberg has analysed what’s happening here and what other countries can learn.
The piece said New Zealand was once home to the “world’s biggest housing booms,” but is now in the grip of a prolonged downturn, “exposing how deeply the country’s economy depends on ever-rising home values”.
As previously reported by Stuff, realestate.co.nz figures show that, nationally, would-be sellers dropped asking prices by a combined total of almost $55m in the first quarter of 2026.
Bloomberg spoke to Wellington homeowner Rochelle Hikuroa, who, with her partner, bought a house in 2023 under the assumption it was a path to wealth. With a baby on the way they decided to sell and move to her home town in Australia.
