I'm pretty sure the sale of an existing house is not counted in GDP, which is the vast majority. This is because no goods were produced and the house itself is not a service.

However, the lawyer and real estate agent fees I think are counted, as well as e.g. paying for a builder's report, registered valuation, etc.

I'm not certain on new houses, but I expect they would be included. So this could impact GDP, but it's probably minimal since most house sales are not of new builds, and also I believe new build values haven't fallen as much as others (since investor rules are different, and also the price to build sets a minimum sale value).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I heard people say 'real estate artificially inflates GDP' but I have no idea if that's true.

Capital gains, maybe?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Most of the time people are probably making assumptions that may not be true. However, I think a new house counts. While borrowing is cheap, more new houses are built, and the competition for land for new houses pushes up prices. So it's possible it has skme impact, but it really depends on how exactly NZ (Stats NZ?) counts it. I would expect the land value to not be included but maybe it is, I haven't managed to find a list of what is and isn't included in GDP.

Rising housing costs are counted in inflation numbers, though.

Edit: you may be right about capital gains, it means more spending money for the sellers (and the buyers pay with debt so the drop on that side is delayed)