[size=1.0625]Labour has been accused of playing the race card and others have questioned the reliability of the data, which covers about 4,000 transactions over three months. [size=1.0625]An Auckland economist, Shamubeel Eaqub, told Fairfax that using such “half-baked” data to draw conclusions verged on racism. [size=1.0625]“It draws this line across race and ethnicity, which is very damaging for a multicultural, welcoming place like New Zealand,” he said. [size=1.0625]Eaqub said Labour was using foreign investors as a “scapegoat” for the housing crisis in Auckland, where median prices surged 26% from $542,000 (NZ$600,000) to $835,000 (NZ$755,000) in the year to June. By comparison, the national median house price rose by just 5.4% over the same period. [size=1.0625]The race relations commissioner, Dame Susan Devoy, has also accused the Labour party of dumbing down the complex issue of Auckland’s inflationary market. [size=1.0625]“Chinese New Zealanders deserve better than this and so does anyone keen on actually solving this issue,” she said.
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