Olivia* was giving up on the idea of ever owning a home. The project coordinator and her partner, a teacher, had opted to try to buy in Ōtautahi Christchurch, where prices were lower than other main centres, and they would be closer to family.
“We had a 20% deposit saved, but as the market went up, that 20% got smaller and smaller,” she says. As their deposit portion shrank, the banks became squeamish about lending to them. “Every month that went by, it became more out of reach, because of the speed that house prices were going up.”
Finally, Olivia asked for help from her parents, who decided to buy the house on the couple’s behalf. She and her partner gave their deposit to her parents, who – with an existing property of their own – quickly got bank approval. The couple moved in, paying all mortgage payments and costs. A year later, they were established enough to get bank approval for their own mortgage and bought the house from her parents for the same price they’d originally paid.
“It was an absolute godsend,” Olivia says. “I’m sitting in our house today and I can’t believe it. We couldn’t afford this house now. It’s gone up astronomically.”
Over the past year, value estimates for the property have risen so the house is now worth about $200,000 more than what they paid.
“That was the gift my parents gave me – to essentially freeze the market for us,” she says. “We’re incredibly lucky … [But] when we last spoke to the bank manager…
