"The prices were just ... oh my goodness, up and up and up," Mrs Longmore said.
"That was a big challenge for us because we thought we were going to be entitled to that Homestart grant but, of course, prices have gone well over $400,000 for anything just decent."
They regularly ran into poor quality housing, she said.
"People are trying to sell stuff that is substandard housing, really. Issues with wiring, roof — one place we put an offer in on we were a bit dubious, we were like ‘should we or shouldn’t we’ ... we were just so desperate we did.
"Lucky we didn’t get it because it would have needed a complete new wiring, new roof. Huge amounts of stuff. People in a first-home buyers’ position don’t have that kind of cash available to be able to then spend on top of what ... they’re already having put in to scrape together a deposit."
They had been living apart for a year while they saved up and looked for a house. Mrs Longmore lived at her mother’s in Dunedin with their daughter while her husband stayed in Owaka.
When she got fed up with the constant disappointment about March this year, Mrs Longmore took to a Facebook community page.
"One night I was fed up with the process.
"I’d just been turned down for another offer and was like, ‘Right, there’s got to be something out there’.
After she put the message out, a private vendor contacted them.
That vendor eventually sold them their three-bedroom house for about $450,000.
The deal had to be delayed a few weeks because of the Alert Level 4 lockdown, but they were able to move in at the end of May.
Mrs Longmore said private sales were worth considering even though "the real estate agents won’t be that happy about me saying that".
"But if you’re struggling, it’s probably the way to go.
"The houses are out there. You’ve really just got to stick at it. You will go through a roller-coaster of emotions.
"It’s even more pressing now, with just the whole situation at the moment."
Clearly, first-home buyers have heeded that call to persist.
They took out a bigger share of new mortgages than property investors in June, Reserve Bank figures show, the first time this has happened.
Real estate agents say the two groups are dominating the housing market post-lockdown, but existing homeowners are sitting on their hands.
Corelogic senior property economist Kelvin Davidson said house sales had rebounded across the country, since the lockdown, but that might change.
"The big thing we’re wary of is what will happen on the first of September, when the wage subsidy ends. Even if things do look OK to people now, and do look normal, we’ve got to remember there are risks out there and the end of the year could be looking weaker."
Latest Reserve Bank figures show first-home buyers accounted for more than 20% of new mortgages, compared with roughly 19% for investors.
Mr Davidson said banks would be cautious in the coming months, until the effects of the pandemic became clearer.
"They are paying a lot of attention to job security, income security and ability to pay that mortgage."
He said that kept the market on a stable footing but could mean that, as unemployment rose, lending would not be as strong.
He also warned that first-home buyers should not hold out hopes for a major slump in prices.
"Our prediction is house prices may be down 5%. So this window of buying opportunity may be shorter and shallower than it has been in the past."
— Additional reporting RNZ
