新西兰英语 789 The cost of housing

 　　A new OECD report shows that New Zealanders pay more for their housing¹ than most other developed countries. On average, New Zealanders spend 26% of their income on a place to live – either paying rent or paying a mortgage². The average for all OECD countries is 21%. People in Greece spend slightly more than we do – 27% of their income – while South Korea spends only 16% of their income on housing.

　　Of course this doesn’t tell us very much. New Zealand houses tend to be bigger than the average size house in the OECD countries with 2.3 rooms per person while the average for the OECD is 1.6 rooms per person. The OECD did not compare the size of houses or land.

　　House prices have risen more than 7% across the whole of New Zealand in the last year, especially in Auckland (12%) and Christchurch (9.4%). It is easy to explain why Christchurch house prices have gone up so much: so many houses have been demolished³ after the earthquakes. There is a shortage⁴ of houses in Auckland too. Many new immigrants⁵ and also people from other parts of New Zealand are moving to our biggest city for jobs. The cost of land has increased house prices. This is one reason for Auckland’s new housing plan. High-rise apartment buildings save on the cost of land.

　　Listen to May 1st 2013 to hear more the Auckland city plan.

　　Vocabulary

　　?OECD – Organisation⁶ for Economic Cooperation and Development compares 50 developed countries

　　?mortgage – loan⁷ from the bank to buy a house (note pronunciation – the letter ‘t’ is silent)

　　?tend – move in that direction

　　?demolished – pushed down by bulldozers

　　Grammar

　　?Present tense for facts e.g. show, pay, spend

　　?Present perfect for something that started in the past and is true today e.g. have risen

　　Pronunciation

　　House (ends in s sound), houses (ends in ziz)

　　Questions

　　1.If you now live in New Zealand, how do houses here compare with houses in your country? Think of style, size, comfort level

　　2.What are some of the problems with average figures like average size or price?

1 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

2 mortgage   

n.抵押，抵押贷款；vt.抵押

参考例句：

• He's having a lot of trouble paying his mortgage every month.他付每月的抵押借款利息有很大的困难。
• The bank refused to accept any mortgage on land.银行拒绝接受任何土地抵押。

3 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

4 shortage   

n.缺少，缺乏，不足

参考例句：

• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。
• The heart of the problem is a shortage of funds.问题的关键是缺乏经费。

5 immigrants   

n.移民( immigrant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Illegal immigrants were given the opportunity to regularize their position. 非法移民得到了使其身份合法化的机会。
• Immigrants from all over the world populate this city. 这个城市里生活着来自世界各地的移民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

7 loan   

n.贷款；借出的东西；借；vt.借出；贷予

参考例句：

• I asked the bank to help me with a loan.我请银行给我一笔贷款。
• Has the bank okayed your request for a loan?银行批准你的贷款要求了吗？