NZ property prices are at an all-time high. It's the place to be ` or at least, the place to buy. Are we ever gonna get on the property ladder? If we don't buy a house now, we'll probably never afford to buy a house in Queenstown. Buying your first home has never been harder. I think we should make an offer now. (SPLUTTERS) But many Kiwis are trying to keep the dream alive. 400! At 671 or we let it go. Personally, I think that dream is maybe more of a nightmare at the moment. We're tracking the highs and the lows... How about you buy a house and then I go and buy a house? ...of ordinary Kiwis across the country as they hunt for their first home in one of the most overpriced markets in the Western world. Holy moly. My heartbeat's just going even faster. MAN: Second time! Third, final time. MAN: Last chance, ladies and gents. It is sold. (BANGS GAVEL) Sold. Copyright Able 2015 Cantabrians are famously resilient, and so is their regional centre. Just four years after the devastating earthquake, Christchurch has rebounded. The rebuild means new opportunities, but there are fewer houses than people needing them, and that's turning the city into a red-hot property market. QUIRKY PIANO MUSIC Young professionals Martin Thompson and Helena Turner face a real challenge securing a home in the Garden City. We met a few years ago. Mm. I was seeing someone at the time, and then I decided that I liked him more. (CHUCKLES) I think your mum would've preferred the other bloke` Yeah. Cos he's English and I'm a Kiwi, and her daughter's, like, 18,000km away. Yeah. Oh, she loves you for that (!) Yep. Yeah, sorry. Give it a flick with your wrist. (GRUNTS) SPLASH! Martin is a Christchurch boy, and after 10 years away he's come home to escape English winters and a rubbish cricket team. Everyone goes, 'How is it, being back home in Christchurch?' Because this place, the earthquakes, it's` I dunno, just not a very good place to be. And I don't see that. We come back and I can see the progress that's gonna be made. I see opportunity as opposed to destruction. The city centre has really struggled with the earthquakes, but there are some really cool spots, like the containers, and you get this real` it's a really nice vibe down there. Everyone's really happy. People are lovely. Really accommodating, really friendly. And that's just as well, as they're relying on local hospitality. We currently live with my sister, Sheree, and her husband and their two kids, Bella and Finlay. We completely need our own space, because we've done it for how many months now, so we just wanna have our own space. And we wanna put our roots down here. We wanna hopefully have a... family here at some point. The only cloud in Martin's sunny outlook is quite a thunderhead. Since he's been away, Christchurch property prices have skyrocketed, rising 25% in the last five years alone. There's a house there, 180 squares, and they want 570,000 for it. It's just stupid, looking at the price of all these things. Do you think so, Helena? What's that, sorry? Is anyone listening to me? LAUGHTER Our budget probably started at about 350, 400. And now it's close to 580, and that to me is annoying. You sound like a petulant child. I don't like it. (CHUCKLES) It annoys` It really really annoys me. Their search starts in the popular suburb of Parklands. It's just 7km from the city centre. The first house on their hit list was built before the last major quake ` a four-bed home with a rateable value of $560,000. The location's good, but what about the house itself? Wow. Wow. Huge space. Really really cool with the huge bay windows. Helena's all smiles, but Martin's got a face like a burst couch. What on earth can be the problem? I love that space. Don't know if I'm quite so drawn on it. Really? < Well, I'm not` The furniture. I actually don't really like the furniture. Yeah, but that's completely negligible. Don't like the tiles. What don't you like about them? Just don't like them. Why? Just don't. So, master bedroom. Again, big space. Really big space. Got the double windows, which are cool. In the bathroom, tiles are an issue again. This time, it's because there aren't enough. It doesn't have the tiling. Tiles around there just makes it a bit more smarter. Martin picks up on more frustrating flaws in the spare room. Have you seen the carpet? The carpet is worn in this place. Martin is such a moaner. Everything about it, whether it's the carpet or how much storage there is will somehow turn into a negative. Does Helena dare to join him in the kitchen? She does. Kitchen's small. It's big. What do you want to do in here? When you're flipping pancakes, how many hands do you want? Yeah, but it's just... I do like the entertaining area. I definitely see that in the space there. Finally, Martin's found a redeeming feature. But he has one question that now features in every Christchurch house-hunter's repertoire. He turns to agent Desere Girdlestone for the lique-facts. What about earthquake damage? It was cosmetic, mainly. And, um` So no foundation damage or anything structural? No. I love it. I think, uh, yeah, I think we should make an offer now. Oh, good. > (CHUCKLES) (SPLUTTERS) I'll prepare the paperwork. Hold your horses, Helena. Martin's not about to part with his cash just yet. What are they wanting? This one's going to the market at 585. That's only $5000 over their budget. OK. I think it's too high. Of course you do. LAUGHTER So property number one is out. But if that's an overpriced house in Christchurch, it's a bargain-bin do-up in Auckland, even in the city's less glamorous suburbs. Otara in South Auckland has been the subject of many stories over the years, and not all of them positive. But it's fast becoming a hotbed for investors, and property prices rose 19% here in the last year. Tomatoes... To locals like Shandel Ngan Woo and her husband, Steven, it's a vibrant community, and most importantly, it's a place they love. Wow, that's a big nashi. By buying a home here, Shandel and Steven are hoping to add another chapter to a story that began two decades ago. We met, like, 20 years ago through a mutual friend. I managed to get his phone number and gave him a call. So 20 years later, here we are. We're married and we have two children. Our oldest is 8. His name is Gennaryn. And got a 19-month-old daughter, Giovanna. Currently renting, Shandel and Steven have been forced to watch prices in Otara go ballistic as investors corner much of the market. They're desperate to stake their claim while they can. It would mean everything for us to own our own home. Having a home to call our own would be fantastic, and also something for our children, so when we're gone at least they're, you know, hopefully provided for. Which one do you want? With two full-time jobs, kids to juggle and little left after the weekly budget, Shandel and Steven are pushing their limits with a maximum spend of $400,000. We have been saving, but my mum has come to the party, and she's offered to help us out also with the deposit, because at $400,000, at 20%, that's an $80,000 deposit. I mean, who can genuinely save an $80,000 deposit? They're up against a wall of speculator cash, but this humble couple have quite modest aspirations. We're looking at something that's three bedrooms. We'd like a bathtub. Both my children have allergies, so it means we can soak them in their special creams. And, yeah, just pretty simple, pretty basic. We don't think we're being unreasonable with $400,000. While Steven minds the kids, Shandel's off house-hunting with her best mate, Steffie. They're starting their search with a three-bed home close to Shandel's mum. Conveniently located, compact, and with an even more compact CV of $340,000 Shandel has high hopes that number one is the one. And agent Rosie Q is keen to make it happen. This is the living room. Ooh, wow. It's a great size. It is. Really good. I can imagine, um, Steve putting his massive TV there and watching the footy quite comfortably. At just 12m2, the room may be small, but Steven's domestic corporate box is sorted. But will the kitchen and dining areas suit Shandel? Yeah. But this is nice, eh? It's a good-sized dining room. Most importantly, this place is gonna be great for big family get-togethers. So long as it's big enough to fit all our corned beef in there. That'll be fine. BOTH CHUCKLE Ever practical, Shandel can see the potential of every room in the house ` even the smallest bedroom. I've got a little 18-month-old girl. She can go wild in here, she can play with her toys, and if they need to be packed up, at least you can do that quite quickly. No, it's great. The bathroom is bite-sized. You wouldn't notice that was there, eh? No, not at all. But with a bath, it's perfect for Shandel's little nippers. It's actually really good` good for their skin when it flares up. Exactly. And you'd need that. This house feels like home already. But will it be Shandel's or someone else's? Yeah, it was really nice. It's a good house. Um, it's got three bedrooms. It's got a bathtub, which I really really wanted. It's in really great tidy condition. So, you know, you can pretty much move in and not have to do anything at all. It's probably not too far off our ultimate dream home. I could see us living here for a few years, if we're successful. Shandel is every estate agent's dream ` realistic, easily pleased and hungry for a home. She's put in an offer of $400,000, $60,000 over the CV. But the big question is ` will even that be enough to secure this property? 9 In Christchurch, young professionals Martin and Helena are looking for a love nest. But Martin is sweating the small stuff. A lot of these don't mention tiling in the showers or the storage space. Martin's had investment property before, but this will be their first home together, and he's proving harder to please than a Kardashian at Christmas. And obviously, tiles in the shower. Given Martin's long list of requirements, finding a home for this couple could be quite the challenge. Keen to take it on is estate agent Sonia Tafilipepe. Catch you later, Matt. She's seen this city confound the pessimists with a building boom. Although the earthquake was obviously a tragedy down here in Christchurch, there are some vendors and some people that are a lot better off since then. There seems to be a lot more cash in the market. Since the earthquakes, land that can still be built on is referred to as the green zone. But the red zone is no man's land. We're coming up to where a whole lot of them have` there's no houses left there at all. So, it's not able to be built on. It's just bare land. As if house-hunting wasn't complicated enough, land zoning adds a whole new layer of complexity to work through. Fortunately, Sonia has a background that helps her help her clients. Prior to working in real estate, I was working in mental health. Pretty much every says, 'That's quite a different career change,' but it's very very similar. A lot of anxiety. So can she use her skills to put Martin and Helena at ease? The property she's showing them is in the green-zone suburb of Sockburn. It's a recent-build four-bedroom home with all the bells and whistles and a CV of $560,000. Hi, guys. How are you? Hi. I'm good, thank you. I'm Sonia. Hi, Sonia. We spoke on the phone. Here's the flyer. Have a look through. Any other questions, let me know. Wonderful view of a fence (!) Martin and Helena have looked at enough places by now to know what they want. Decent bathroom. And for Martin, that's tiles, tiles and more tiles. Don't know why they don't tile. I mean, if there was tiles round there, it makes it a bit smarter rather than just using a, um` Yeah. Still, I've seen a lot worse. God. Martin, how freaky is that? Eugh. D'you like this place? It's, um` It's not the bottom of my list, by any means. How are you guys going? Yeah. It's got a really nice flow. I love how the bedrooms are down there. It's really cool. Go on, Helena. Say what you really think. But you were like... It still doesn't get me. I can't lie. It's not... It's not a house that I think, 'Oh my God, I really want this.' For once, they're in agreement. This house is not for them. But what about something they haven't looked at before? A family friend's tipped them off to a brand new house in a whole new part of town. Kaiapoi, a 40-minute commute from central Christchurch, suffered substantial damage in the earthquakes. But land in this area is now deemed safe to build on. It's not completed yet, but this home will have four bedrooms, a substantial living space and a large yard. It's going to market for $619,000, nearly 40,000 more than their top budget. Well, it's OK to dream. Ladies first. Thank you. There's nothing quite like a blank canvas to paint with your own imagination. Just... space and there's light. A lot of space. A lot of windows as well. Doesn't feel claustrophobic. Mm-hm. Pretty cool space to work with. Before long, Martin and Helena are mentally moving into a house that's beyond their budget. Love those doors. They look very cool. Very cool. And definitely you'd have TV on that big wall there in between the two windows. You'd probably have something like an L-shaped couch as well, just so you've got lots of seating. For sure. With a few shelving units, lamps. No point putting it off. Helena escorts Martin to the bathroom. Decent sized bathroom. This is what, again, I mean about these showers. Rather than an acrylic shower, tiles. It doesn't look untidy. You just want tiles. Admit it. Tiles. But Martin's obsession with tiles evaporates when he sees the master bedroom. It's bigger than an Auckland apartment. It's a really good space, isn't it? The bed has to come out from here. I would have it here. No, that sounds ridiculous. The bed's gonna be from there to there. Easiest thing to do is that I'll sleep in here and you sleep over there. No way. Separate bedrooms can wait till the kids have left home. For now the next question is ` how big is the great outdoors? It's still to be landscaped, but... Beautiful. Pretty special. You can imagine this place all landscaped. Great. Really good. Mm. We might have found ourselves a home. So this house is perfect. But how are they gonna pay for it? Presently, it's $40,000 over their budget. Time for Martin to call the builder who's selling the house. I just wanted to confirm the price. OK. You wouldn't wanna`? You couldn't go any lower than that? But Martin has an unusual plan. You talk about code of compliance and things, cos there's a few things that Helena and I wanted to do ourselves. So when it comes to paths and fences and landscaping, how much can we do to get away with it and maybe save us some money? Let me have a chat to Helena, cos we're both pretty keen on it. It's probably just the extra few grand that tips it over the budget a little bit. But, um, I'm sure we can probably come to some agreement. In South Auckland, Shandel Ngan Woo also thinks she's found the perfect home for her family in the shape of this neat and tidy three-bedroom house in Otara. But there's bad news. Her offer of $400,000 has been firmly rejected. We thought that was a great offer, but the vendor wanted 460,000, and I just kind of said... And she's in for an extra kick in the guts as she passes by the place on her way to another viewing. It sold! No way! Oh wow! That house sold. So again, you know, another one for the vendor and unlucky for a potential first-home buyer. Well, I feel a little bit overwhelmed, to be honest, and it just goes to show people have got money to throw at houses. The possibility that Otara, the community she knows and loves, may now be out of Shandel's reach is starting to look like a reality. 400,000, it's obviously not enough. What that might mean for me is either... picking up another job or doing a lot of overtime, and that's... that's gonna miss out on family time, so it's just really really disheartening. A bit lost for words, really. In South Auckland, Shandel Ngan Woo's not giving up on finding her first home. With Otara looking too pricey, she's taken her search further south to Manurewa. This three-bedroom beauty has a fresh reno, some lovely staged furnishings and is clean as a whistle. It's on a cross-lease with a CV of $300,000. I did think about possibly moving into this area. The only reason why I guess I've been a bit reluctant is it's a little bit far from home. Best friend Steffie lives in Manurewa, and she's keen for Shandel to become her neighbour. I'm 'Rewa hard. I grew up in Manurewa, so I'm going to try and convert her to move to Manurewa. It's great. Also hoping that Shandel will go 'Rewa hard is agent Sunny Sareen. I'm good, thank you. Nice to meet you. Hey. How are you? Hi, Sunny. Nice to meet you. Please come in. Wooow. Oh! I didn't expect that. This is amazing. The kitchen. (GASPS) Wow. They've done a really great renovation job. I like this, Shan. Look at the benchtop. Wow, that is amazing. Love it. Love it, love it, love it, love it. This'd be really good for your little family, Shan. I think it might just do us well. Oh! And outside, there's room for entertaining ` and more. When you do your shopping, instead of carting it around the front door, it's actually really good just to bring it into the kitchen and put it away that way. That's true. Well, I was hoping I would beep the horn and Hubby would come running and lift my shopping bags for me. That's the intention. But yeah, yeah, no, that's fine. Good luck! BOTH LAUGH Gio's room? This is nice. Yeah, I do like the size. This room's perfect for her 18-month-old daughter, except for one thing. Doesn't have any latches, though. I would like security latches, for sure. I wanna be able to have this secure and not have, say, an intruder come in easily through this window, and having a safety latch is paramount. For this area. No offence to the people who live in Manurewa. It's a great area. Oh! Wow, this is nice. This must be the master room. (GASPS) Ooh! This is very nice. Really good space. This is big. It's spacious. It's great! Yeah. And I like it cos it's, like, it's light. It's got two windows. Yeah. Look at that, Shan. Although the view might be just a little too 'Rewa hard for Shan's liking. Probably why the house is for sale. It looks really rundown. Does it look quite dodgy, does it? Uh, yes, Shan. So, um, we'll ask Sunny. What did you think? Oh, I thought that the house was absolutely amazing. Just wanna ask a question in regards to the neighbours at the back. They are thinking of putting another dwelling at the back. They are thinking of putting another dwelling at the back. It's not occupied at the moment? It seems to be vacant at the moment, yeah. > I guess nothing to be worried about, or...? No, I don't think so, no. Seeing how we judge a property is by the street appeal and stuff, this part is very popular, being close to all the amenities. You've got walking distance to all the Indian temples and everything. So it is pretty popular. Well, I might have to convert, then! LAUGHTER I'm actually Catholic, but` Catholic church is just down the road, OK? There's a church down the road as well, so, yes. > So, what price range are you looking in? Uh, that would be telling, so that's for me to know` So this one is price by negotiation. So the owners have obtained a registered valuation of around 450, so they are looking at offers close to 450. > 450,000? To be honest, it's way more than what I could budget for. I'm sure if I probably look a little bit harder or be patient and wait a little bit longer, maybe I could get something for less than 400,000. But back in Christchurch, there's better news for Martin and Helena. Their offer to complete the landscaping on this house themselves in exchange for a discount has paid off. It's theirs for $580,000 ` within budget. Once we made the decision to buy this place, then everything went pretty quickly, really. I love this house. Every room has its little quirks. And just the big windows, the open space, the light. It's perfect. Definitely the right choice. They've still got to finish the backyard and, of course, start paying the mortgage. So along with the euphoria, Martin's experiencing a certain amount of home-buyer's remorse. If you're buying a home, there's so many emotions you'll go through. This was probably the hardest thing that we actually purchased together. And now it's finally done, you look at it and you feel a little bit empty and go,... (SIGHS) But don't get me wrong. I am happy. I am happy. Ah. Yeah. The whole family has come over to help celebrate Martin and Helena's big milestone ` a home of their own. At the end of the day, it's a safe, secure home, good location, so as far as 'dream come true', then yeah, it definitely meets all those expectations. GLASSES CLINK But it's a far more difficult path in South Auckland. Next time, security-conscious Shandel finds an affordable house with a few unwanted extras. This is, like, a AK-90` (GASPS) And in Blenheim, two newlyweds are trying to step on to the property ladder. But is the honeymoon over? How about you buy a house and then I go and buy a house? Copyright Able 2015