What price a pledge of cheaper and dearer homes?

OPINION: It may be open to debate whether John Key and his Cabinet are facing a ‘‘crisis’’ over housing.

If you believe those ministers responsible for handling the smorgasbord of problems, from homelessness to affordability to Auckland housing shortage, the public are cutting the Government some slack.

Voters are, the argument goes, fully aware there is no simple solution no silver bullet, no ‘‘magicking up’’ of houses. But they are aware of the efforts being put in across the board, illustrated by the almost daily press releases emanating from the Beehive spin machine.

If you ask the Opposition they will tell you it is top of mind for voters and only immigration comes anywhere close.

But whether it is a crisis or not, it is certainly becoming a farce.

No more so than in the mutually-exclusive policy aims that Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith has to trot out on behalf of all his colleagues and he was at it again over the weekend.

Policy goal one is that house prices should not fall, but should rise by single digit percentages.

Policy goal two is that the ratio of house prices to income should fall from the current nine time (going on 12 times) to an average of four to five times across the country.

Policy goal three is that incomes should rise steadily, but not in a highly unsustainable or inflationary way. That will not, for yonks, deliver the $200,000-$250,000 a year household income needed to ensure the average $1 million Auckland home is around five times the average household income.

Play around with the figures, and give Auckland a price margin over the rest of the country (shall we say six times household income?) and you still have a very long wait.

Then add in percentage house price increases that even in single digit percentages are likely to outpace wage increases and ... well you get the picture.

At the nub of the problem is most of our politicians’ refusal to embrace even a slow deflation, let alone a bursting of the bubble.

Yet at the same time, from Finance Minister Bill English down, there are dire warnings about the cost of homes and calls for patience from first home buyers.

Labour MPs are hoist on a similar petard by refusing to publicly admit they would like to see a fall in prices.

Only Green co-leader Metiria Turei - and a raft of clear-eyed economists - seem prepared to utter the unlovely truth; only a big dive in house prices, especially in Auckland, will provide a significant easing in home affordability in the next 10 to 20 years.

On a daily basis our MPs are promising to feed us affordable homes while pledging we can still gorge on house price inflation. It does not compute.