(Updates with details of DTI limits and house prices)
WELLINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will undertake a cost-benefit analysis of imposing debt-to-income (DTI) limits aimed at cooling down a red-hot housing market, New Zealand's finance minister said on Wednesday.
The RBNZ has been lobbying the government for months to get permission to add DTIs to its macroprudential arsenal to combat the country's "excessive" house price growth in a low interest rate environment - while simultaneously attempting to meet a minimum inflation target.
"I have discussed DTIs with the Reserve Bank Governor, who remains concerned about the levels of debt in some households in the context of recent increases in house prices," Finance Minister Steven Joyce said in an emailed statement.
RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler said in November when the central bank cut interest rates to the current record low of 1.75 percent that he was lobbying the government for permission to use DTI limits. Wheeler said at the time he had no immediate plans to use the tools.
New Zealand house prices rose 11.8 percent in the year to December, though the red-hot market of Auckland saw some cooling, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) reported last month.
Joyce said that a public consultation for views on DTI measures would begin in March and continue through the first half of the year.
