Move to the 'burbs and save

First-time homebuyers are being told to set aside suburb snobbery if they want to get on to the property ladder.

High interest rates and the end of the easily available 100 per cent mortgage have made it even tougher for wannabe owners to stop being tenants.

But figures collated by the Herald on Sunday reveal renting in trendy parts of Auckland and Wellington costs almost twice as much as a mortgage in less sought-after areas.

Median rent for a three-bedroom house in inner-city Ponsonby is $650, but payments on a house in the west Auckland suburbs of Glendene or Glen Eden would be $343.

Stephen Hart, editor of Where to Live in Auckland, said buyers had a "natural inertia" about moving to unfamiliar places.

"You only feel equipped to buy in areas where you have a reasonable degree of knowledge," he said.

To read the full NZ Herald story click here

Posted: 9 Aug 2009

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