New Zealand housing slump to linger on

Continued restraint: Workers at a construction site in Auckland. More declines in housing prices are expected this year as the RBNZ continues to fight inflation with a series of aggressive interest-rate increases. — Bloomberg

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s housing downturn likely has further to run even after the market suffered its worst decline since the global financial crisis.

Average prices fell 5% in December from 12 months earlier, the biggest drop for a calendar year since 2008, according to CoreLogic New Zealand data released here yesterday. More declines are expected this year as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) continues to fight inflation with a series of aggressive interest-rate increases.