Wellington house prices skyrocket, giving first-buyers 'steep hills to climb'

With 54 of Wellington's suburbs now having a median value of $1 million, the housing market has become "fiercely competitive" - and first-time buyers have little hope.

The latest CoreLogic data has revealed there are now 54 $1 million-plus suburbs in the Greater Wellington region – up from 42 recorded in the last quarter.

Seatoun is the region's priciest suburb with a median value of $1.93 million.

CoreLogic NZ's Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson says the price increases across the country are "frankly rampant".

"This is paper wealth effectively coming at the expense of non-owners and unfortunately for would-be first home buyers our latest data refresh highlights yet again the challenges they face."

OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan told the Herald while it's great for owners, it's more bad news for buyers.

"If you've been a homeowner over the last year, you've done extraordinarily well but for those trying to break in that's an extraordinarily large hill to climb... Wellington city has become a million-dollar city like Auckland."

It's not just the inner-city either – outer suburbs are creeping up as buyers try to move further out from the centre in a bid to find lower prices.

"We're seeing now values have risen more than 30 per cent in 12 months – in dollar terms that's around $260,000 added to property values in the Greater Wellington Region."

It comes as the Government prepares to reveal the details of its most powerful housing policies.

In March, the Government announced its housing package, which was centred around an extension to the bright line test and removing the ability of property investors to deduct the interest on their mortgages from their taxes.

The policy was announced without any of the details being fully worked through, although details were promised before October 1.