Out of reach for so many

In Sandringham, once a magnet for first-home buyers, "Ian" is coming to terms with moving to the city fringes if he is to pay off his mortgage instead of someone else's.

Across Auckland City, the traditional three-bedroom bungalow is now out of reach for first-home buyers, says Real Estate Institute Auckland branch president Jean Smith - unless their combined income adds up to around $100,000.

At the bottom end of the income scale, state house waiting lists are soaring as demand for houses exceeds supply and rents rocket.

But the people adding to state house waiting lists are not yet the middle classes - who are simply stuck in a rental trap. The house price boom is creating a class of Aucklanders with no hope of meeting the criteria for a state house but for whom the dream of traditional home ownership is slipping away.

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