The Property Investors' Federation is questioning the methodology used in a recent survey which rates New Zealand's housing as seriously unaffordable.
The tenth annual Demographia survey of nine countries ranked New Zealand as the second most expensive to buy in, behind only Hong Kong. It put Australia as second equal.
The survey defines an affordable home as one that costs less than three times the median household income.
In New Zealand buyers need five and a half times the median household income.
Photo: RNZ
But the Federation's executive officer, Andrew King, says the survey only takes into account house prices and income and ignores interest rates, which have a big bearing on housing affordability.
"Not taking interest rates into consideration really just simplifies the whole thing....we're certainly unaffordable, house prices here are expensive, however a lot of that is due to things like the fact that we like big houses, and if we want big houses then that costs more."
Mr King says Demographia is being misleading by calling it severely unaffordable.
