A new interactive housing map shows what most people living in Tauranga already know – it's getting harder to afford a home in the city.

Launched on Thursday by Labour, the interactive map includes information regarding house prices, changes in homeownership rates, rent increases and state housing waiting lists.

Opposition leader Andrew Little says the new interactive map launched by Labour on Thursday shows the housing crisis is now affecting more than 98 per cent of New Zealand. File Photo.

'The housing crisis is making life tougher for most New Zealanders. Skyrocketing house prices are locking a generation out of the Kiwi dream of homeownership and pushing rents up so high, families are being forced to live in cars and garages.

'Behind all these figures are families who are paying more and more for a roof over their heads, leaving less and less for food and other essentials for themselves and their kids.”

According to the interactive map, in the past year house prices in Tauranga rose 23.6 per cent from $486,000 to $600,000 – making it one of the biggest increases in the country.

The map goes on to say home ownership in Tauranga also fell 9.1 per cent in the last census, and 50 per cent of families own their own home, while 5 per cent of adults under 40 were homeowners.

In regards to rents, the map states rents across the Bay of Plenty rose by 9.5 per cent rents over the last year, with the average weekly rent now sitting at $355 per week. But at the same time incomes had only risen by 6.3 per cent.

It also shows in Tauranga there are 1545 houses with no heating, and that 180 families are waiting for state houses while 43 state houses are sitting empty.

The data cited was provided by Quotable Value (house prices), Statistics New Zealand Census Data (homeownership rates/proportions of renters/heating), Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (rents), Statistics NZ Income Survey (incomes) and Housing NZ (state houses).

Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith has labelled Labour's new interactive map as 'try hard”. File Photo

But Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith says the 'try hard” website lacks credibility and shows how desperate the opposition has become to overstate New Zealand's housing challenges.

'The claim that 98 per cent of New Zealand has a housing crisis because house price increases have exceeded wage increases is not credible,” says Nick.

'This definition would mean almost every region of New Zealand was in crisis for all of Labour's nine years in government, during which house prices rose 102 per cent and wages 44 per cent.”

Nick says wage increases have exceeded house prices in four of National's eight years in Government.

He also believes the website is riddled with errors and misinformation, with the homeownership rates differing from those provided at the last Census.

'This information is about is reliable as what they used to supposedly identify Chinese buyers in Auckland - based on the sound of their names,” adds Nick.

'If people want reliable information on New Zealand's housing sector they should look to the independent information provided by Statistics New Zealand and other independent agencies, and not biased data cooked up to serve Labour's political purposes.”

Speaking to SunLive earlier this week, Tauranga MP Simon Bridges says the Government has a comprehensive plan to deal with housing and housing affordability, and is dedicated to helping the most vulnerable in the community.

To view the interactive map visit: www.labour.org.nz/housingmap