Lower repayments little help to house hunters

First-home buyers Natalie and Glen Allison say the prices fetched at auctions they've been to are 'eye-opening'. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Glen Allison says decreasing mortgage rates may help him and his wife get into their first home, but it is only a short-term fix for a long-term obligation.

The couple have a 1-year-old daughter named Paige and are looking to buy a house in West Auckland.

A mortgage was a long-term commitment, said Mr Allison, 38, but lower interest rates would help in Auckland's housing market, at least in the short term.

Prime Minister John Key talks about the rising house prices in Auckland.

"Dropping [them] one year doesn't mean it's going to stay that way long-term. It will only fix it for usually two or three [years] at a time, so who knows what happens down the track."

Mr Allison and his wife Natalie, a 30-year-old accountant, were "seriously interested" in a Barfoot and Thompson auction yesterday afternoon but, like several other hopeful buyers, they left disappointed.

Mr Allison, who works in IT, said they had been renting in the city but had moved back in with family in Henderson a week ago.

Tuesday's auction was the third they had been to, and they were yet to bid at any of them.

The three-bedroom house in Glen Eden that they were hoping to make an offer on yesterday went for $100,000 more than it was expected to. Bidding starting at $600,000 - the Allisons' maximum budget.

Mr Allison said it was "eye-opening". He hoped tomorrow's Budget would provide something for those struggling to buy their first home.