Perils of $600m a year KiwiSaver first home withdrawals123RF Home ownership is the epitome of the Kiwi dream, but it cannot come at the exclusion of retirement savings. High house prices have left young New Zealanders with little choice but to raid their KiwiSaver schemes to help them buy their first home. Gilbert believed many people aiming for home ownership through KiwiSaver withdrawals kept their money in low-risk, low-growth funds. In Japan house prices stagnated for several decades, and after the Global Financial Crisis US house prices halved and, in some areas, never recovered. So fast have Auckland house prices risen that Gilbert that many even well-earning people have been locked out of ownership.

Source: Stuff December 16, 2017 18:01 UTC