International economists are keeping tabs on New Zealand's housing market downturn in what could be a "warning to the world", according to the Financial Times.
The UK business media outlet published a video last week, titled: NZ House Market - Warning to the World?
While discussing the fact New Zealand's house prices climbed by 43 percent after the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, FT Australia and Pacific correspondent Nic Fildes said NZ's market was a "canary in a coal mine for other markets concerned that a housing crash may be on the horizon".
House prices in New Zealand have fallen by about 3.5 percent this quarter, according to data from CoreLogic, as a combination of tighter credit, more housing and rising mortgage rates start to weigh in.
Fildes said, in the FT video, said New Zealand's housing market was "now in the minds of economists the world over".
He pointed to New Zealand's rising interest rates as a key factor behind falling house prices.
"That is where other markets including Australia, the UK and the US have started to pay heed to what we should perhaps call, 'The Kiwi in the coal mine,'" Fildes said.
CoreLogic revealed on Thursday last month's house prices had fallen at double the rate of July - down 1.8 percent from the previous 0.9 percent decline.
Nick Goodall, CoreLogic's head of research, said New Zealand's housing market downturn was now evident across the country.
The latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand report, released last month, showed house prices fell nearly 5 percent year-on-year in July - the first annual decrease since 2011.
