Sunday ` brought to you by Mazda. Tonight on Sunday ` desperate for a piece of the Kiwi dream. A hell of a lot of debt to get a very ordinary house. That's almost doubling our money in five years. But how long can the dream last? Is there a risk that bubble could burst? And she survived against incredible odds. I'm not going to let this burn beat me. Now revealing her new face. You're determined to get to a point where you can take that off? I'm past determined, man. Like, I'm fiercely determined. Able 2014 Good evening. How do young people buy a home in one of the most unaffordable cities in the world where house prices are now six times the average household income. We're not talking Paris, London, New York or Rome. These figures are for Auckland, where for some, the dream of owning a quarter acre is dead, but others are showing it can still be done. Sunday's tracked the story of one house and the fortunes of its owners as they struggle to climb the property ladder. Here's Ian Sinclair. I thought, 'This is awesome. That's the house for us.' To first-home-buyers Adam and Louise Zame, this was a godsend ` a house on the water close to the heart of Auckland. I was buying a water view, yep, of a place` of an area I didn't know anything about. The Zames could thank their lucky stars. Number 25 Te Wiata Place was hidden in a forgotten corner of the harbour. The price... It was on the market for about 345,000, and that's what we bought it for. But here's the catch ` see, the Zames paid that purchase price five years ago and in working class Avondale, once one of Auckland's least fashionable suburbs. Yet as they were to discover, a soaring market would soon push that value even further and way beyond the reach of most first-home-buyers. My parents built this house in 1966. It was a Beazley home. To hear the story of number 25, as Mark Inglis tells it, is to hear NZ's story. Yeah, it has changed. It's been re-clad, it's got a new roof and there's a lot more trees growing around the house now. Where land has been prepared, building goes ahead. In 1966 the race was on to house the baby boom. Te Wiata Place appeared in an empty field on a harbour point to meet a national population explosion of an extra 47,000 people that year alone. A lot of the sections hadn't been built on, so it was still just a small number of houses and quite a lot of empty sections. We had lots of kids to play with. Everyone was out playing at night. It was great. Good place to grow up. And do you remember this roundabout here? Yeah, I remember the roundabout. The tree wasn't growing then. As that oak tree matured, generations of children played beneath it, making number 25 a perfect first home for the Zames. It wasn't until we moved in, and I would say even a couple of months into living in the house, that you kind of realised how unique the street was. You know, you'd go out into the roundabout that's there with the big tree, and you'd meet other families. The river brought bird life. We had ducks visit us and actually walk in the house. They figured a house with such potential was worth improving. We re-roofed, we upgraded the kitchen, we painted the inside. But Adam and Louise still had a debt that was big for first-homeowners five years ago. We did borrow about` I think it was about 320 at the end. You've got to get yourself into a hell of a lot of debt to get a very ordinary house, which is nuts. Did it worry you? Did you lose any sleep over it? I suppose thinking at that point that we were quite heavily indebted on the house was a bit of a` You know, it may have led to some sleepless nights, but` You know, it may have led to some sleepless nights, but` We had two incomes then as well. Yeah, we had two incomes. But those figures would shrink into insignificance when they sold number 25 in April this year. We were running out of space. We were just running out of space So what did you get? 650,000 for a little three-bedroom place in Avondale. You know, we were quite, quite ecstatic. So that's almost doubling our money in five years. When I really sat down and` and saw the offer put to us, I was` I was gobsmacked. So for number 25, first-home-buyers Emma and Martin Wackrow had paid a record price. Do we feel ripped off paying twice as much as Adam and Louise? It is what it is, you know? The prices just keep going up. You can't look backwards and say they only paid this much because it was a different time, a different market. It's quite a bit of money, isn't it, $650K? It's a huge amount of money, yeah. It's the most we've ever spent. (LAUGHS) But you figure that you can handle it? Yep. Yep. Emma and Martin believe five years working in the UK gave them an advantage. Definitely having come from the UK, the exchange rate was working in our favour. Do you think your friends would be able to make an outlay that big on a house like this? I think saving a deposit is probably the hardest thing for anyone, so us being in a position where we were overseas for a period of time did make that difference. So both these couples are on the property ladder, but what fate lies in store for Kiwi first-home-buyers? Is there a risk that bubble could burst? That's next. Since when did beer have to toe the line, play the game, work for the man? INSPIRING MUSIC Since when did beer have to taste like beer or, for that matter, have beer in it? Since 1990-never ` that's when. Not Beersies ` the beer that doesn't have beer in it. . Avondale ` and it's a sign of the times. A suburb once overlooked is now a focus of Auckland's property boom. So why is this? You'll go a long way to find a Louis Vuitton store in Avondale, but it's changing. While real estate agents represent the seller, Stephen Hart is a consultant to buyers. Well, this is typical of suburb regeneration. It was an old petrol station, clearly. That's not where the money is. There's a bigger profit margin selling muffins in a trendy cafe. These customers didn't used to head to Avondale for their flat whites. They do now. It's got all the basics right. It's close to the city. The Waterview Connection is going in ` that's one of the largest infrastructure developments that's ever been undertaken. And all these things combined, he says, have made this suburb take off. Martin and Emma are already on the ladder with 25 Te Wiata Place. ...eventually. (LAUGHS) Now their friends Nicole Ayrton and Alex Fletcher from Christchurch want to take the plunge too. Oh yeah. It looks way bigger in the photos, doesn't it? Oh yeah. It looks way bigger in the photos, doesn't it? I know. It does. First up, a do-up. Obviously needs a lot of work on the inside. I wouldn't be keen on living in it how it is. And the price, a reality check. We've been told it's around about 580,000. It's going for auction, so it depends who shows up and bids. So, this probably something that is typical in the first-home-buyer range at the moment. This bungalow gives them an idea of just how fast those prices are moving. Here's what it looked like a year ago with one house ` now three houses. The front two have just sold for a total of more than 1.2 million. Less land for more money. The third property we're just about to take to market in the next couple of weeks... But the government believes Auckland should have cottoned on to this kind of infill housing years ago. In my view the dumb decision that has just caused so much pain, not just for Auckland, but for the NZ economy, was that decision to impose a very tight metropolitan urban limit that has acted like a stranglehold on the growth of Auckland. Housing minister Nick Smith points the finger at the old Regional Council. The sort of utopian view that somehow we can stop Auckland growing doesn't work and just puts the impact on those families that are aspiring for homes. So I see quite a degree of liberalisation with the new unitary plan. I see a real commitment from the Auckland Council with the Auckland Accord to meet those targets and to free up land. But we also have to get the systems working better around allowing some of our close-in suburbs to be able to intensify. Now there's a flipside to this, of course, 'cause if you increase the supply and bring down the value of houses you may disadvantage those who have already invested hundreds of thousands, mightn't you? I'm not at all worried or nervous about a house price collapse as a consequence of increased supply. But you might be worried if you had half a million dollars tied up in your first home, mightn't you? Well, you can't have it both ways. You can't have public policy driven by a desire of protecting those people that own current houses who might quite like them to continue to go up at 15% per year. Is there a risk that bubble could burst? I think the risk of a burst or a sudden decrease in house prices is unlikely. And that's the risk Alex and Nicole will have to take. So you're still going to be in debt to the tune of over half a million. So you're still going to be in debt to the tune of over half a million. Yes. Yeah. Does that worry you? It does, actually. It's an awful lot of money. It's daunting. And paying rates as well on the side and everything that comes with maintaining a house as well as commuting to work as well. What if interest rates go up? That's going to be concerning as well. If they did, what would happen to you? Uh, it'd be` It'd make it a lot more difficult, I think. $1.6 million is the bid now. Meanwhile, that house on the main road they looked at is going under the hammer. First up is 257 Rosebank Road. The prediction was the high 500s. The actual price... $600,000. Gone to you. The prices are just going crazy in Auckland. That's what's going on. That's a good size too, isn't it? And the higher the prices, the bigger the deposit, creating a struggle for Alex and Nicole despite their combined income of $155,000. I think in two to three years time we could be priced out. There are still bargains to be had in a suburb like this, but the streets aren't paved with gold in Avondale. Steven Hart's advice ` try to anticipate the market. So, what do you think is the next suburb after Avondale? OK, New Lynn is up that way. Places like Mt Wellington, Panmure, Papatoetoe all demonstrate good solid signs of growth. Suburbs with average prices up to $100,000 behind Avondale. And that trick is already saving those earlier owners of number 25 a small fortune. By moving out beyond Avondale, Adam and Louise Zame have got more for their money. Yes, we've definitely upgraded. We've got ourselves a double internal garage. The place has four bedrooms, three bathrooms... Chandelier. Chandelier. Chandelier. (LAUGHS) With the $650,000 they got on the sale of 25 Te Wiata Place, they've moved out to a new subdivision in Henderson. This is 235m2, so about three times the size of our last house. For an extra 90,000, they got a two-storied house with more room for a growing family. We'd been paying the equivalent of the mortgage we needed already, so we were quite lucky once more to be able to move into our new house with very little change in lifestyle. We've doubled our money. We've set ourselves up for the next five to ten years in a lovely four-bedroom house that will be where the family grows up, and, yeah, we're comfortable. But they do feel for those who will come after them. You know, if this is the housing market now, what is it going to be like for our children to try and get a house? They just won't live in Auckland, which is probably the truth. You seem to be in debt up to your eyeballs, and I don't think that's okay. We don't want to be in debt till we die and then pass that debt on to our children and then their grandchildren. After the break ` she survived an horrific attack which left her with third degree burns to most of her body. Now she's ready to reveal her new face. I sleep with my mask, braces, splints. It's just not an easy feat. But you're determined to get to a point where you can take that off? I'm past determined, man. Like, I'm fiercely determined. Welcome back. Dana Vulin was doused with methylated spirits, set alight, and left for dead by her attackers. She survived, but the attack left her with third degree burns to most of her body, and for the past two and a half years she's worn a compression mask and body suit. Now, after months of surgery and intensive therapy, Dana is ready to lose the mask, and reveal her new face. Here's Rahni Sadler. I was... I was known for my appearance for a while. Like, I mean, men, women would always compliment me on how beautiful my face was. I loved the way I looked. I know` And I know beauty is skin deep. I believe all that, and I know personality shines through. That's all well and good... if... you weren't burnt alive, and you didn't lose your face. In Perth in February 2012, 25-year-old Dana Vulin was deliberately set on fire. In seconds, she suffered third degree burns to two thirds of her body. She was burnt because she was beautiful, burnt out of jealousy, burnt by this woman. I'm not gonna let this burn beat me. Describe your personality before the attack. Um, confident, outgoing, loud, assertive, um... fun ` very fun. You got an awful lot of attention from men, didn't you? Uh, yes, a lot. I couldn't go down to the local servo without getting hit on. It was just` It was the norm. Looks may have been important to Dana, but she also has brains. # Don't stop. Make it pop. DJ, blow my speakers up. Tonight... # In 2005 she graduated from university and then let her hair down.. She went out with friends, went to parties, and at one on New Year's Eve in 2011, had a conversation with a married fitness instructor, Eden Handanovic. He didn't hit on me. It wasn't, like` It wasn't sleazy or anything like that. So you never even kissed him? Nothing` So you never even kissed him? Nothing` We never` Nothing. Nothing. And that night, he told you he was divorced? And that night, he told you he was divorced? Yes, yes. But Edin was lying. He wasn't divorced. He had only just separated from his wife, Natalie. Natalie was desperate to reconcile with Edin, and when she discovered he'd been seen talking to Dana on New Year's Eve and later met her a second time, Natalie became enraged. Natalie wrongly believed that Dana was having an affair with her husband. She made a series of abusive phone calls and threats to Dana. I don't know who I've made enemies with, she's gonna kill me, she's gonna ruin my pretty little face. Then on February 16 2012, just before 7am, Natalie, high on drugs, broke into Dana's apartment with a male accomplice. So you woke up, she's in your house. So you woke up, she's in your house. She's in my house. She's, like, 'Where is he?' and I was, like, 'Where's who?' She's, like, 'Where's Edin?' I was, 'What are you talking about, Natalie? What are you talking about?' And I had started to walk to my front door to open the front door to tell them to get out, basically, but I didn't even get there. Natalie had started to light up` She started to smoke crystal meth in my house. I basically just said, 'Natalie, get out.' Just get out. Get out right now. And then she grabbed the methylated spirits bottle, and she said, 'Tell me where he is, or I'm gonna set you on fire.' And I said, 'What for?' and then at that point she just twisted the lid off and doused me in methylated spirits. I was engulfed in flames. STAMMERS: I... cupped my hands on my face and started screaming, and, um... (SIGHS) The moment I was on fire, they laughed. They watched me burn, laughed and ran out of my apartment. I was engulfed in flames. The pain` pain was unbelievable. Dana was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital and into the care of Australia's leading Burns Unit. She was placed in an induced coma. Her survival was touch and go. As Dana struggled for life, police asked her sister to make a public appeal for help. Our family are living minute to minute. We can't sleep. We can't eat. If you know what happened, you have to come forward and let police finish this. PHONE RINGS Good afternoon. Crime Stoppers. Can I help you at all? Detective Senior Constable David Johnson ran the investigation. Within days, the team narrowed the list of suspects to one, and they had a description. We're looking for a Caucasian female in her mid-20s and` with blonde hair. And that led them to Natalie Dimitrovska. this call to her brother, eight days after the attack, revealed that Natalie was planning to flee the country. As her flight was boarding, Natalie was arrested, handcuffed and led away. Two days later, Dana woke from her coma. Hi. How are you feeling? How are you feeling? Uh... Drowsy. I love everybody. I was so broken at this point. Um, the... Dana on the outside... (SIGHS) was gone. Yeah, I just knew I was destroyed at that point, and that it was a moment, I guess, of acceptance, uh, because I knew it was that far gone that I had to accept it. 56, 55, 54. Dana's been doing this almost everyday for the past 30 months. And then there's this ` laser treatments. I work the entire day from the moment I get up, and then when I sleep as well, I'm working. I sleep with my mask, braces, splints. It's just not an easy feat. But you're determined to get to a point where you can take that off. I'm past determined, man. Like, I'm fiercely determined. To see how incredible Dana's recovery is, we need to show you this ` what she looked like after the attack two and a half years ago... And a nice big smile. CAMERA CLICKS ...and now. That's good. In my wildest dreams in the beginning, I... didn't for one second think I could look in the mirror and see the old Dana again. Oh God. You are crack up. What are you most looking forward to? What are you most looking forward to? Life. And you're gonna keep going no matter what it takes? And you're gonna keep going no matter what it takes? Oh my God. Just try and stop me. Natalie was sentenced to 17 years prison for the attack on Dana. She's appealing the sentence. That's our show for tonight. Join us on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for watching. Goodnight.