First-home joy for couple after anxious search

Evan Kennedy and Kerry Gregory are rapt to have bought their first home in Greenmeadows after two months of house hunting. Photo / Supplied

A young couple searching to buy a home locally have struck success despite rising house prices and low levels of available housing in Hawke's Bay.

Evan Kennedy, 26, and Kerry Gregory, 25, had been house hunting for months before finding a two-bedroom home in Greenmeadows in their price range last month.

Ms Gregory said they had spent almost every weekend attending open homes, viewings and placing bids on properties for the past two months.

"It was so time consuming. We were just over it, it was getting really frustrating," she said.

Having recently relocated from Auckland to be with Mr Kennedy, Ms Gregory said the process was more difficult than she thought it would be.

"It's definitely not easy, it's easier [than Auckland] but still really hard as well. For anyone buying a first home I think prices these days are still astronomical,

Obviously for me coming down from Auckland the prices up there are just insane and down here it's cheaper but it's still hard."

She said open homes were "very intimidating" with investor presence a commonality.

"You can tell who has been in the game before and who hasn't so it was definitely very intimidating."

The couple had placed bids on three homes before they had success and said while it was a stressful process they felt lucky they finally had their own patch.

"It could have been a way longer process, there definitely weren't many [houses] available,

"I think we're very lucky that we weren't looking for longer because it was only a couple of months. It's something we could have been doing for the rest of the year."

Set to move in next Friday, the couple said they felt "really blessed" to have found a nice home and were looking forward to living in the Bay.