Wage vs House in NZ

The NZ 'Centre for Housing Research' has published a report on home ownership in NZ. Included is this statistic:

On a 25-year mortgage at BNZ's two-year fixed rate of 7.75 per cent, that amounts to a whopping $2190.45 in monthly repayments. That is $547.61 per week - consuming nearly all of the average weekly wage of $586 before tax.

That's before tax. I remember the heuristic that the mortgage payment should be a third of your wage. But not 93%. Even at the cheap end of the housing market it is a huge chunk of your income.