New figures from interest.co.nz First Home Buyer’s Affordability Report shows that the fast-rising prices of property in Auckland are making fewer of them affordable to buyers, particularly those buying their first home.
The latest report shows entry-level housing is considered affordable in every New Zealand region except Auckland, where the price of a “lower quartile” (bottom 25%) home has jumped by NZ$170,100 in the past two years, a whopping 38.2%, to NZ616,500.
With housing typically considered to be unaffordable by lender if mortgage repayments exceed 40% a homeowner’s net pay, the report warns that it is “likely to be becoming severely unaffordable for first-home buyers in Auckland because as well as mortgage payments, they will be faced with other property-related expenses such as rates, insurance and maintenance costs, which could severely impact their finances.”
The cheapest location to buy a first home is Southland, with a typical lower quartile price of NZ$139,400, while the most expensive entry-level region outside Auckland was Central Otago-Lakes, at NZ$388,900.
