Only 4% of Auckland house sales 'affordable'

Figures supplied to the <i>Herald on Sunday</i> by property website Homes.co.nz show 79 houses sold for between $450,000 and $550,000 in April and June this year. Photo / Michael Craig

Auckland's ever-shrinking affordable housing market has shrunk even further with the number of houses sold for between $450,000 and $550,000 making up just 4.2 per cent of total sales.

Figures supplied to the Herald on Sunday by property website Homes.co.nz show 79 houses sold for between $450,000 and $550,000 in April and June this year.

This is compared to the 157 sales for the same period in 2011. And affordable houses are getting smaller. In 2011 the average size of an affordable home was 124sq m, now it is 40sq m smaller - or one bedroom less - at 84sq m.

Last month Prime Minister John Key suggested those looking for affordable homes search TradeMe stating there were "quite a few".

On Friday, 1513 properties were listed in the price guideline of $550,000 and under.

Removing apartments, bare land and one-bedroom units from the search leaves with around 60.

Most of those are on the outskirts of the Auckland region, in areas such as Franklin, Helensville and Totara Park, near Manurewa.

These property prices are in stark contrast to what you could buy in Auckland five years ago.

Peter Thompson of Barfoot & Thompson said the number of sales under $550,000 had dropped to 11.5 per cent of total sales for the agency from 45 per cent last year.

The number of suburbs with an average sale price of under $550,000 for a three-bedroom home has dropped from 16 in April last year to just three in April this year - those are Tuakau at $472,231, Clendon Park $482,778 and Weymouth at $504,563.