First-time home buyers undeterred by high prices

New data from CoreLogic shows first-time buyers are an increasingly large proportion of the property market’s transactions, and even the country’s highest prices aren’t enough to put them off. First-time buyers made up 23 per cent of all residential property purchases in the last quarter of 2018, up from 22 per cent during the same period in 2017. Even in Auckland, with an average price of more than $1 million and a median of $850,000, first-time buyers comprised 26 per cent of the market, the biggest share since 2008. Christchurch and Wellington were also prime first-home areas. Investors also increased their share of the market, to 24 per cent from 23 per cent a year earlier, the highest since mid-2017.