Good news for first-home buyers

First-home buyers have faced an uphill battle getting onto the property market as a result of the region's property boom.

It's pleasing to see the pace of residential development under Tauranga's Special Housing Area ) scheme is starting to pick up.

As reported in the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, the SHAs were expected to eventually bring some 2700 new dwellings on to the market, though to date just under 1000 had been consented.

Of the 12 Tauranga SHAs gazetted in the past three years, nine now had qualifying developments lodged by developers, with 989 lots consented, according to the latest data from Tauranga City Council.

Of those, 198 had residential dwelling building consents issued, meaning house building had either begun or could get started.

The Special Housing Area scheme was originally promoted by the Government as an attempt to improve housing affordability.

According to the SHA Accord signed by the Government and the Tauranga City Council, its targets for the new developments include that they "deliver smaller homes on modestly-sized sections to achieve more affordable prices".

While no practical restrictions have been imposed on house pricing in Tauranga, it stands to reason that if the supply of homes increases then it will - eventually - have some impact on affordability.

First-home buyers have faced an uphill battle getting on to the property market as a result of the region's property boom.

QV figures released last month showed that average house values in Tauranga City in August were up 28.5 per cent year on year to $633,638. Western Bay

of Plenty homes also showed strong growth of 26.3 per cent to $557,640.

The trend is good news for homeowners who have enjoyed good capital gain on their investment in recent years but it has made it difficult for those seeking to get on the property ladder.

Of course, the supply of new homes needs to increase substantially to make a real difference on property prices but it is good to see that some progress is finally being made.