How rising house prices hurt productivity

Christopher Luxon is hoping house prices rise, but productivity may not follow. (Image: NZME/Supplied/BusinessDesk)

Thu, 28 Aug 2025

Christopher Luxon wants house prices up. Jacinda Ardern did too. The trouble is, house price booms can be bad for productivity, as Dileepa Fonseka explains in the latest story in our Productivity Unleashed series.When Christopher Luxon visited OfficeMax's East Tāmaki facility on Friday, his prescription for the economy was clear: he wants house prices to rise."We want to see house prices rise consistently, but what we don't want to see is the unsustainable increase in house prices ... what we want to see is good, consistent le...

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