First-home buyers resort to extreme measures to get into property market

PHOTO: First-home buyers are using extreme measures to buy property, including letterbox drops and door-knocking making cash offers. Photo credit: Getty.

First-home buyers are resorting to extreme measures to buy homes, using targeted letterbox drops, door-knocking with cash offers and trying to view properties before they’re listed.

Across New Zealand house price rises are in the double-digits – REINZ data shows the national median sale price rose over 20 percent year-on-year, reaching $780,000 in February.

Auckland prices rose 24.3 percent year-on-year to $1.1 million, while prices in the capital city rose 24 percent, to $890,000.

Cheap borrowing due to record-low interest rates has attracted property investors, while COVID-19 means homeowners are channeling money usually spent on international travel into upgrading their home.

Increased demand combined with a listings shortage has made competition to buy a home even stronger. And some first-home buyers are resorting to targeted letterbox drops to get one.