Owning a home in Auckland "does seem impossible right now" for the Green Party candidate Chloe Swarbrick, but says she hasn't given up the dream.

During tonight's 1 NEWS Young Leaders Debate, the list candidate confessed she hasn't calculated if she could afford a deposit for a home.

"I haven't even done those calculations as I believe most people in this room probably haven't because it's just so far in the future," she said.

"It does seem impossible right now and people have become fatalistic about those opportunities to get into their first home."

Talking about the state of New Zealand's housing market, Ms Swarbrick said "renting right now is a really rubbish proposition."

"We are paying an arm and a leg to live in mouldy damp homes, 70 per cent of which aren't insulated so we need the government to step up here."