Scrapped 20 per cent deposit increases home buyer appetite

The Auckland skyline, from Devonport.

By RNZ

More first home buyers were looking to get on to the property ladder than usual during April.

Figures from the Trade Me Property Price Index show the number of 18 to 29-year-olds browsing property on the website increased by 38 per cent compared with the year before.

Trade Me Property head Nigel Jeffries put the increase down to the Reserve Bank's decision to scrap the requirement to have a 20 per cent deposit.

Interest was particularly higher in the South Island, with Queenstown-Lakes, South Otago and Wanaka seeing the largest jump in online traffic.

The average asking price for properties in the Wellington Region also hit the $700,000 mark for the first time.