Quote Originally Posted by JBmurc View Post
When do you think we will ever see high interest rates ?? I think we are all turning Japanese and Low rates will be around for decades just look at the last 12yrs so called Booming rockstar economy and rates when nowhere but down
Japan's problem of high debt to GDP is due to inflation in the 70s and 80s. They Yen got too strong due to high productivity that it rendered their country uncompetitive. 20 years later and they still struggle with getting their debt down to be comparable around the world.

Low interest rates = high real estate prices
High interest rates = low house prices.
Not a strong believer in this statement. You need to look at inflation figures for which IMO, inflation in NZ has been way to high for the past 30 or 40 years (notably caused by excessive high housing prices). The Keynesian move to adjust interest rates won't apply anymore with record low central bank interest rates. Look for the unemployment indicators from this COVID crisis ; if we were to hit 30% unemployment, watch out! the NZ gov't can not borrow indefinitely to keep the banks holding long. Pretty much ALL banks in NZ (except Kiwi Bank) are foreign owned and they hold the mortgages. When mortgagee sales start flooding, it doesn't matter what level interest rates are.