Which prime minister was actually best for house prices?
Short answer: it depends which side of the open home you're standing on.
Article
If you already own, the GOAT is Helen Clark. Real house prices rose 58% while she was running the country. If you're trying to get in, your patron saint is, awkwardly, Robert Muldoon, with Christopher Luxon currently tracking as the fastest faller per year. With the election on 7 November and housing once again near the top of the list of things keeping New Zealanders up at night, I went digging. Fifty years of price data, lined up against every prime minister since Norman Kirk. Here's what fell out.
Continued
How this works (the boring but important bit) I used the Bank for International Settlements' quarterly house price index for New Zealand. It's about the nerdiest source going, which is exactly why I trust it: it runs back to the 1960s and covers every kind of dwelling nationwide. For each prime minister, I compared the quarter they walked into the Beehive with the quarter they walked out. Luxon's still in there, so his numbers run to March 2026, the latest available. Everything is adjusted for inflation, because otherwise the 1970s and 80s would win by a country mile. Consumer prices were climbing 10% to 15% a year back then. On paper, house prices rose 167% under Muldoon. In real money, they went backwards.
About Here
Here is the New Zealand real estate agency built for modern selling — premium marketing, transparent communication, and every licensed agent able to introduce a buyer.
Contact Here
Here is a New Zealand real estate agency based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Get in touch with our agents via the contact form on any page, or visit the People page to reach a specific team member.