Auckland house prices have risen so steeply the typical house in our biggest city now costs 10 times the median Auckland household income, Labour's Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford says.

'Barfoot and Thompson reports the median house sale price in June was $786,000. That's 10 times the median Auckland household income of $78,600, according to Statistics NZ's Income Surevy.

'Three times the median house income is the internationally accepted benchmark for affordability with higher than three considered unaffordable.

'If any further proof was needed, this is it – Auckland is now officially off the scale.

'It is no wonder that homeownership rates are plummeting and it now takes about 50 years to pay off the average Auckland home.

'Whatever Housing Minister Nick Smith is doing to address the Auckland housing crisis, it is clearly not working.

'The Government must urgently clamp down on overseas speculators who are pushing house prices out of reach of Kiwi families and embark on a massive state-backed house building programme,” Phil Twyford says.

Source: Office of Phil Twyford.