First-home buyers have given up on buying the worst house on the best street, according to property data analyst Carmen Vicelich.
The sheer cost of getting on the property ladder has made renovations all but impossible for them and an unnecessary expense for existing owners, who can just wait a few months for an equivalent capital gain.
"We're seeing a decrease in renovation consents - people aren't even needing to do that," Ms Vicelich told The AM Show on Thursday.
"They're just buying a property, waiting a little while and it's gone up."
It's a double-blow for struggling would-be first-home buyers, particularly in Auckland, where house prices have skyrocketed in recent years.
The Government's put its faith in increased supply, but that's not working either, with new builds largely aimed at the wealthy and investors.
Investors last year made up 48 percent of all mortgage lending in Auckland, according to the Reserve Bank (RBNZ).
That's down to 38 percent this year thanks to new rules put in place by the RBNZ, but still well above the national average of 26 percent.
Ms Vicelich says, however, new builds are largely going to investors, with first-home buyers priced out.
"The top 10 fastest-growing suburbs used to always be where [both investors and first-home buyers] are buying," said Ms Vicelich.
"The biggest problem now for first-home buyers is there's a lot of talk around increased building consents and increased supply, but the supply we're creating isn't really affordable for first-home buyers."
Generation X and Millennials have long known the quarter-acre dream is a thing of the past, but that reality hasn't appeared to hit construction industry yet.
"They're on the outskirts… and where they are, they're very expensive," said Ms Vicelich.
"For a builder to make his margin, he's got to build a large house on that section. The median sale price for new builds is $1 million - four-bedroom homes, that's what we're building."
And stoking the intergenerational housing war is Baby Boomers' reliance on property investments and increasing lifespans, says Ms Vicelich.
"People are living longer - they're investing in property, they're not actually selling their houses."
Listings rose in March, with 20 percent more homes coming to market in March 2017 than the same month last year.
Newshub.
