Tighter lending rules and interest rate hikes have triggered the biggest property sales slump in almost 40 years.
The latest CoreLogic figures reveal house sales in the 12 months to February are down a third (-32.7 percent) on last year, and fewer than 61,000 (60,859) properties were sold nationwide.
For the month of February alone, 4,100 deals were done, the lowest for that month since the 1981.
But with few vendors in a hurry to sell, it's forcing first-home buyers to retreat from the market.
It's been almost four decades since the housing market has gone this quiet.
"I'd call it a bit of a standoff between buyers and sellers," said Kelvin Davidson, Corelogic's chief property economist.
And with unemployment low, few vendors are in a hurry to sell.
And buyers with finance are taking their time too, knowing there's an abundance of properties on the market and prices are falling.
But so too is the number of first-timers entering the market.
One woman trying to buy her first home with her partner, Rachel Annan told Newshub they "definitely didn't expect it to be this challenging."
A challenging process that ultimately forced Annan and her husband to reconsider their options altogether.
"We thought we'd be in a house by now, we're not, and so we're kind of back to the drawing board looking at going overseas again potentially to earn more money," said Annan.
And they're not alone, the latest figures from CoreLogic show first home buyers' share of purchases fell again in February.
"[It] could be an interest rate pressure, [or] could be a simple choice that people are making. Prices are going down - I might wait and see if I can get a bargain later but definitely first home buyers showing signs of a bit of fatigue.
But CoreLogic says the good news is that indications are mortgage rates have peaked.
"The worst has definitely passed with mortgage rates and we are no in that situation where people can quantify their worst case, however not going to say they're going to suddenly fall away again sharply," Kelvinson said.
Rent however, is still on the rise, with the national median weekly rent in Aotearoa hitting $600 for the first time in February - up 4 percent - or $25 in 12 months.
"We're really holding on to hope that we can make it work somehow," Annan said.
Because for many Kiwis renting is now more expensive than paying off a mortgage.
