PHOTO: Property values plunge in the capital while the Government slashes jobs — and somehow expects the economy to thrive?. FILE
🏠 Wellington Sales Lift — But Prices Keep Dropping
While the rest of the country celebrates a bump in property sales, Wellington homeowners are waking up to even more red ink.
According to the latest figures, the capital’s median property values fell another 0.2% in the three months to May, continuing a brutal 23.9% decline over the past three years — the steepest drop of any major centre in Aotearoa.
That’s on top of a 5.2% year-on-year decrease, leaving sellers scrambling and equity evaporating.
The brutal truth? Wellington is in a property recession — and it’s far from over.
https://www.propertynoise.co.nz/boom-outside-the-big-cities-regional-property-prices-set-to-outpace-auckland-wellington/
🚫 You Can’t Slash Public Sector Jobs Without Crashing the Local Economy
Let’s not pretend this is a coincidence. The National Government’s mass lay-offs in the public sector — thousands of jobs gone across ministries, departments, and agencies — have left a deep scar on Wellington’s economy.
Public servants aren’t just spreadsheets and salaries — they are tenants, buyers, families, and spenders. When you gut their incomes, you suck the life out of the local housing market.
“You can’t fire your way to economic growth,” said one Wellington-based economist. “But that’s exactly what’s happening here.”
🏚️ Flatlining Market, Crashing Confidence
Despite a slight national uptick in transactions, the Wellington property market remains completely flat.
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🏡 Median values down 23.9% since the 2021 peak
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📉 A further 5.2% drop in the last 12 months alone
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🛑 Recovery? Nowhere in sight.
Sellers are either slashing prices or pulling listings altogether. Buyers are hesitant, especially those working in the public sector or reliant on consumer confidence that’s rapidly vanishing.
💼 Layoffs Today = Listings Tomorrow
Property values don’t just fall in a vacuum — they fall when job security vanishes, mortgage pre-approvals dry up, and household confidence collapses.
With hundreds — if not thousands — of public servants either already out of work or fearing the chop, Wellington’s housing demand has fallen off a cliff.
Meanwhile, landlords are reporting higher vacancies, and agents are warning of a winter slowdown that could extend well into 2026.
🔍 A Market That Needs Stimulus, Not Austerity
Instead of investing in the city’s infrastructure, social housing, or state-sector support, the Government has doubled down on a policy of cuts and cost-trimming — and Wellington is wearing the consequences.
This is a region that relies heavily on public sector employment to drive housing demand, commercial leases, and economic activity. Take that away, and you strip the engine out of the capital.
“You can’t break the machine and then complain it stopped working.”
⚠️ Where To From Here?
If this Government continues to ignore the capital’s economic reality, we may well see:
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❌ More forced sales and distressed listings
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⬇️ Median home values dipping below 2019 levels
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🏗️ Cancelled developments and construction job losses
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💥 Continued erosion of consumer and investor confidence
Wellington needs more than press releases. It needs a strategy.
📌 Final Word: Capital Collapse Is a Choice
This isn’t a natural disaster — it’s a policy-driven downturn. When you pull thousands of salaries out of a city like Wellington, you don’t just reduce government spending. You destroy its housing market.
And unless there’s a serious rethink, we haven’t hit bottom yet.