The most important part of what happened to housing in New Zealand in the last 10 years is what happened to housing in Auckland in the last 10 years.

In today's episode, two professionals lay out the numbers.

In short: In 2016, Auckland passed one of the biggest, broadest legalizations of more housing within an existing area that had ever happened in the developed world since the invention of zoning. One in five homes in this major metro area, about the population of the City of Phoenix, has been built since. Home prices have fallen 20 percent from their pandemic peak, but the homebuilding continues: even after a post-peak slowdown it seems to have settled 50% faster than its pre-2016 pace.

In short, the Auckland Unitary Plan worked as intended.

Here's how Gary Blick, the current chief economist for Auckland's regional gov ...