• Four-fifths of potential first home buyers cannot comfortably afford a house in New Zealand, according to a new government measure.

The picture is even worse in Auckland, with 86 per cent of renting households not making enough to meet rocketing house prices, up from 74 per cent in 2003.

The long-delayed housing Housing Affordability Measure (HAM) was finally released today after almost two years of delay. The renting households HAM looks at is roughly a third of the population.

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Building Minister Nick Smith said the data would help central and local government target policy.