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If you were buying shares or bonds, you could dripfeed into the market, but unfortunately with a house purchase you must buy the whole thing on one day. Because of that, and this country's top spot in price-to-income comparisons, I wouldn't buy a house right now - or certainly not in Auckland or elsewhere where prices are rising fast.
In your case, it's good that you're not ready to buy yet. Prices might well drop in the next couple of years. If they don't, if I were you I would stay on the sidelines until they do.
On the International Monetary Fund's website, there's a graph of the ratio of house prices to rent. It shows New Zealand has the third highest growth since 2010, after Turkey and Sweden. In other words, house prices are rising much faster than rent.
That suggests that paying rent for a while - and continuing to save - isn't a stupid thing to do.
Footnote: I'm not saying house prices will fall for certain. I'm just saying what I would do.
