Investors – up and down

These figures have been revealed in papers prepared in December last year for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Minister Megan Woods when Finance Minister Grant Robertson was considering how to rein in residential property investors.

The papers looked at extending the bright-line period, limiting interest-only mortgages, removing deductibility of mortgage interest and temporary rent control.

Extension of the bright-line test to 10 years and removal of mortgage interest deductibility were introduced by the Government in March.

Westpac acting chief economist Michael Gordon says the moves are the most meaningful intervention in the housing market in decades and will have the desired effect of curbing investor demand.