Zoe Hunter: First-home buyers face tough choices to keep the dream alive

Zoe Hunter says just get on that property ladder. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION:

First-home buyers are going to have to lower their expectations to get on the property ladder.

Median house prices in Rotorua and Tauranga reached record highs yet again this week.

It has come to the point that first-home buyers have tough decisions to make. Banks are going through their statements with a fine-tooth comb to assess their creditworthiness.

Some buyers may simply have to put the dream on hold.

Others, however, who think they can hang in there through the predicted rising interest rates and possible weakening property market may also have to make adjustments.

The dream of wanting a house with a big backyard, three bedrooms, and a white picket fence may have to change to simply something with four walls and a roof.

The latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand data revealed Tauranga's house price reached a record $1,050,000. That was a growth of $57,500 from September to October and a whopping $240,000 more than it was in October 2020.

But Stats NZ data showed the median weekly earnings for people in paid employment in the Bay of Plenty in 2021 was $1060 - or $55,120 a year.

We knew this was coming, didn't we? It was only a matter of time before Tauranga's median house prices broke the million-dollar mark.

In Rotorua, where median house prices climbed $115,000 year-on-year to almost $700,000, agents report you'd be hard-pressed to find a home of any description for under $400,000.

But it's not all bad news for first-home buyers.

I believe there are still ways on to the property ladder, albeit without a bit of hard work and some creativity.

Remember, a first home is not always a dream home.

These are the median figures - not everything will cost you a million dollars.

Personally, I don't buy into predictions that house prices are going to start dropping any time soon.

With news yesterday that Auckland's border will lift soon, some are predicting a mass exodus to the Bay.

But agents believe that will be short-lived. Prices may not fall but they will start to flatten off as more supply comes to the market, which is what everyone in real estate is screaming out for right now.

But it is going to take time.

In the meantime, it means first-home buyers may have to team up with parents, siblings or friends for a purchase that will give them a foothold on the ladder. Adopting a minimalist lifestyle might make shoebox-sized homes more palatable, while buying something in need of renovation presents an opportunity to add value.

I borrowed a bit from these tried and true methods to get into my first home just before last year's first lockdown.

I thought it was tough then, but it's even tougher now.

For me, buying a home was such an incredible milestone and I hope people don't give up on the dream - even if they have to make some compromises or wait longer than they'd hoped.