House prices ‘will rise' says BNZ

In his latest BNZ Weekly Overview, Alexander said nationwide housing consent figures revealed consents for the March quarter were 25.3% lower than a year ago and 8.4% down on the December quarter.

"The simple truth going forward remains the same as it has been since we started highlighting the issue in the second half of 2004. We are not building enough houses in New Zealand. We won't be able to. Prices will rise. It's fairly simple really."

While consents were lower across the country, Alexander said signs of a pick-up had been seen in Auckland.

Auckland city (old classification) saw consents up 35.3% on the year, while Manukau was 29.8% higher.