. House values soared during the first two years of the pandemic, while wages remained stagnant. By August 2021, house prices had increased by 25% over the previous 12 months alone – on top of already extraordinarily high prices.
The problem with focusing on the averages and aggregates of figures like these, Eaqub added, was that it could miss the growing divide between renters and owners, and theWith roughly two-thirds of New Zealanders’ assets held in housing, it was unsurprising that housing wealth had boomed during the pandemic, Eaqub said, adding that just because theThe Credit Suisse report paints a broad picture of individual wealth across the globe, with the number of “ultra high net worth” people – or those...
“The strong rise in financial assets resulted in an increase in inequality in 2021,” said the bank’s report. “The rise in inequality is probably due to the surge in the value of financial assets during the Covid-19 pandemic.”New Zealand was followed by the US, Australia, Canada and Taiwan. Those who experienced the biggest losses were Japan, Italy and Belgium.
So, is wealth gained flipping houses in a housing bubble real wealth, or a temporary illusion?