New National leader Chris Luxon has spent his first morning in the job defending his impressive property portfolio, which numbers seven buildings, two of which are effectively leased to taxpayers.
Luxon told The AM Show that house prices may fall or stabilise in the next year.
He said wouldn't want to see house prices fall dramatically but it may come back slightly.
Luxon's latest pecuniary interests register, in which MPs declare their financial interests to Parliament, declared Luxon's Auckland home and a bach, as well as an apartment in Wellington, and four investment properties.
Luxon is given an taxpayer-funded accommodation allowance to rent when in Wellington.
Most MPs use it to rent flats or hotels, but some MPs buy accommodation in Wellington and use the allowance to effectively rent flats to themselves.
Luxon also owns his electorate office in Botany. Electorate MPs receive an allowance from Parliament to rent an office in their electorate.
Luxon recently bought a building in his Botany electorate, which he now rents to Parliament for use as his office. Former prime minister John Key had a similar arrangement in his Helensville seat. While not common in Parliament, the arrangement is not unheard of.
Luxon's deputy, Nicola Willis owns just one home.
She is the beneficiary of a trust that owns three homes.
Luxon told the AM Show that house prices could fall, but he would not want to see them fall "dramatically".
"We need to free up consenting. We need to be able to build more houses, that requires some expansion, it is going to require some intensification in our cities," Luxon said.
"As you see interest rates start to rise I think over the middle of next year, you will see house prices start to stabilise and maybe even fall for a bit.
"I wouldn't want to see house prices fall dramatically. But there might be a period of time where house prices do come back," he said.