Owning their first home is further out of reach than ever for young New Zealanders despite the central bank's attempts to rein in soaring house prices, according to a new survey of housing affordability out Monday.

Home affordability across the country fell by 7.6 percent over the year to the end of May, said a report from Massey University's Real Estate Analysis Unit.

"The average annual wage increase of 34.53 NZ dollars (30.17 U. S. dollars) was not enough to offset a 38,000 NZ dollars (33,199 U. S. dollars) increase in the median house price," report author Professor Bob Hargreaves said in a statement.

"This deterioration in affordability is likely to continue as recent interest rate increases are incorporated into the debt servicing costs for home mortgages."

In the quarter ending May, the national affordability index deteriorated by 4.5 percent, compared with a 2.8 percent improvement in the previous quarter.

The Auckland and Canterbury regions, around the two biggest cities of Auckland and Christchurch, were among the least affordable regions.

The report came out the same day as the government statistics agency released figures showing consents for new home construction had leveled off in recent months and had fallen by 4.6 percent last month.

"The trend for new dwellings has been increasing for three years, but is still 28 percent below the series peak in 2004," Statistics New Zealand business indicators manager Neil Kelly said in a statement.

Housing Minister Nick Smith said the figures showed the number of new dwellings consented at its highest level since 2007, but he added there was "no magic bullet" to deal with the country's housing problems.

"The nationwide figure of 2,125 brings the year to May total to 22,859. This is the highest rate of consents issued in seven years and illustrates the boom that is underway in the construction industry," Smith said in a statement.

Smith reiterated that import tariffs on a range of building products would be temporarily suspended from July 1, which was expected to reduce housing costs and increase competition in the residential construction sector.

"The building materials covered by the tariff suspension comprise about 90 percent of the cost of the materials in an average new house. Currently, these materials attract tariffs and duties that add an estimated 3,500 NZ dollars (3,055 U.S. dollars) to the cost of a new home. These will be cut to zero percent tomorrow for at least the next five years," he said.

The soaring housing market has become one of the main issues for the general election in September, prompting the main opposition Labour Party to describe the affordability figures as " alarming."

"It is time the government rethought its housing policy. Its refusal to crack down on speculators or actually build affordable houses has allowed the crisis to get away on them. Its policy of tweaking the planning rules and hoping the market will build enough houses has failed," Labour housing spokesperson Phil Twyford said in a statement.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has repeatedly voiced concerns that soaring housing prices pose a threat to the stability of the country's finance sector.

In last October, the RBNZ tightened loan-to-value ratios on mortgage lending, and three times this year it has raised the official cash rate by 25 basis points to bring it to 3.25 percent while indicating further rises to come. Endit

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