Editorial: Home ownership slips away

The home-ownership rite of passage is becoming elusive.

Yesterday the sober news broke that you can pay as much as $15 for a pint of beer in Auckland.

A few minutes later we heard Auckland's housing is the most unaffordable it's been for first-home buyers.

The Home Loan Affordability Report came courtesy of interest.co.nz, which has been collating house price and household income data since January 2004.

As well as tracking monthly movements in house prices, the reports track the median after-tax wages of couples aged 25-29 in full time employment in locations throughout the country, via Statistics NZ data.

It underscored what we've suspected for some time, that the New Zealand quarter acre is no longer the investment darling.

In a story last week, Havelock North architect Pierre du Toit said the home-ownership dream was no longer feasible and that society's expectations needed to change.

"People measure their success by home ownership and it needs a perception shift so people can accept that not everyone can own a house, and that a house isn't necessarily a freestanding structure on a 700-metre piece of land."

Too true. I'm all for removing the stigma of not owning a home. It would alleviate the burden for so many young ones.

But the problem is the dream is intergenerational and institutionalised in this country. It's not just a financial goal, but a Kiwi rite of passage.

Some have recommended we adopt Europe's renting ethos and forget about owning.

But a colleague, who yesterday said he pays $440 a week for a three bedroom weatherboard home in Havelock North, reminded me that renting as a lifestyle is a difficult sell.