I never understood how this argument isn't pure xenophobia. House prices are set by both the buyers and the sellers. foreign buyers try to push them _down_, not up. It's the sellers (typically locals) who try to get higher prices. If you had to blame anyone, blame the granny who sells her house to move into a fancy rest home. But really, if you can't afford to live in Auckland, then you're not contributing enough to the economy to deserve it. Go move to a smaller town where your contributions match the cost of supporting your life.

Houses across the country are expensive, even in little nowhere towns. Land is sometimes cheap but houses aren't. That's not immigrants doing it, it's the builders and their high wages.

Outside of Auckland, I'd say the problem is more to do with a generation of arrogant local kids growing up thinking they're better than a tradesman and they should get a BA in sociology instead.