Auckland is not the be-all and end-all, say couple who've bought their first home in Hamilton

Hannah Spanhake and her husband Ian have just purchased their first home in Hamilton after giving up on the Auckland market. Photo / Alan Gibson.

Just two months after giving up on the Auckland housing market, Hannah and Ian Spanhake have bought their dream home in Hamilton.

The couple viewed about 20 houses and missed out on one - but on Friday they went unconditional on a three-bedroom, one-bathroom brick-and-tile house in Hamilton's northeast for less than their $600,000 budget.

The Spanhakes decided to move south two months ago after it looked as if the only way of getting on Auckland's property ladder was through buying an apartment.

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Hannah said the Chedworth house they had bought ticked so many boxes for them. It was in a decile 10 schooling area, was across the road from a park and had been newly renovated. It was also just down the road from her parents' home where they had been staying while they hunted.

"We actually had options whereas in Auckland there was nothing other than apartments, which didn't really suit our goal, which made it really challenging."

She said they shared the news of buying their first home with friends in Auckland who were all supportive and excited for them and some were even considering relocating.

It took the couple, who are both in marketing, about a month to get jobs and Hannah had swapped her commute from 1.5 hours from Howick to the Auckland CBD to just 10 minutes from Chedworth to the Hamilton CBD during peak times.

The downside to buying elsewhere was overcoming the three-month probation period in a new job before most banks would agree to lend the money.

"Auckland is not the be-all and end-all at the end of the day," Hannah said.

"I feel, for us anyway, we are probably having a better lifestyle down here than we would have in Auckland. We will have a smaller mortgage, we will have a great property, we will be in a decile 10 schooling area near the CBD - it just ticks so many boxes for young families."