Lower house prices and job opportunities are attracting more property buyers to the King Country. Buying a first home has always been hard, but these days the deposit is a huge hurdle for aspiring homeowners who need many years to save one – while prices keep climbing. Recent CoreLogic data shows property values increased sharply in the first three months of this year, with the national average up by 7.2 per cent since December to $845,491 in March. Nationwide values then increased by a further 3.1 per cent over April, which took the annual rate of growth to 18.4 per cent from 16.2 per cent in March and left the average national value at $871,375.