Just thought I would post this interesting link about housing affordability comparing the main English speaking countries including NZ:
http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusin...10004604.shtml
Admittedly, the data is quite old but it looks like NZ fairs pretty poorly. Still, at least what you get for your average house is much better, with NZ average houses being more than double the size of their UK counterparts. This is a particularly telling quote:
"New British housing is now only 15% larger than the former East German slab developments, of which one million have been vacated, since the reunification of East and West Germany"