New Zealand’s house prices are finally falling. Could this happen elsewhere?

Aerial view of houses in Auckland. New Zealand house prices have dropped in recent years but experts say they’re still unaffordable. Photograph: David Gray/Reuters

Three years ago, New Zealanders would have it found it almost impossible to imagine the country’s sky-high house prices falling.

The market was deemed one of the least affordable in the world, with house prices nearly nine times the average income and supply dismally low. Desperate first home buyers were being squeezed out of the market by cashed-up investors.