Opinion: Housing dream still a dream after Budget 2018

Sonya Bateson is hoping that the reduction in KiwiBuild doesn't mean Tauranga will miss out on new homes. Photo/file

I've been waiting for Budget day with bated breath.

It's the first Budget of the new Government and I've been crossing my fingers that something will be done to help me achieve a major life goal of mine - to own a home of my own.

As the house prices in Tauranga and its feeder towns continue to rise, the dream of homeownership is becoming just that - a dream.

Prices are growing far quicker than my savings account, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

In the latest property boom, there have been months where average prices have increased by an amount close to my annual salary.

It's always seemed to me that house prices are an issue politicians don't really want to touch - the voting majority are watching gleefully as their values improve, and who really wants to get on the wrong side of the voters?

But KiwiBuild seemed to be the best opportunity for me to get a home.

Phil Twyford, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, had always said some of the 100,000 KiwiBuild homes would come to Tauranga, although he has never, to my knowledge, put an exact number or timeframe to that promise.

If even 1000 of those 100,000 homes came here, that would give me a much better shot at homeownership.

It was a disappointment for me to hear today the KiwiBuild financial forecast has been halved from $5 billion in the next five years to $2.5b.

This was blamed on bottlenecks in the booming construction sector.

Despite that drastic reduction, half of those homes are still planned to be built.

I am hoping the Government won't give the first tranche of KiwiBuild homes to Auckland and leave the rest of us hanging.

My dreams aren't quite dashed, but they're holding on by a fingernail.