'Affordable Remuera' for $2.2 million?

An Auckland house with a $2.2 million price tag is being marketed as 'affordable Remuera' but a valuer questioned that.

Agent Terry King of Remuera Real Estate Register, who is advertising the property, says the marketing is justified because the property is good value.

"By Remuera standards, it's affordable," he said of 23 Ladies Mile. "It's very hard to find a house with a Remuera postal code that's anywhere near that price that's a house with character and in its own environment.

"If it was on the northern slopes, it would probably be $3.5 million," he said of the property which had drawn inquiries from potential buyers.

Jan O'Donoghue, a registered valuer who works for Quotable Value in Auckland, said she did not regard $2.2m as affordable, whether it was Remuera or elsewhere in New Zealand.

"It's not affordable anywhere. It's too expensive to be affordable but it might be what you need to spend to locate to that area," she said.

Affordability is a measure which gauges income against house prices, she said when asked for her opinion about the advertisement.

"The ability to service a loan is based on your income and there's a relationship between that and house prices which determines affordability," she said.

The QV House Price Index listed Auckland City Central, which includes Remuera, as having an average current value of $1,021,399.

But far less expensive suburbs than Remuera are included in that group. The zone takes in Point Chevalier, Grey Lynn, Epsom, Parnell, the CBD where there are many lower-priced apartments, Arch Hill, Ponsonby, Herne Bay, Newmarket and Mt Eden.

The Auckland Housing Accord between the Government and Auckland Council defines affordability in special housing areas.

"Most SHAs are required to have a percentage allocated to affordable housing for any consented development over 14 dwellings. Some SHA developments voluntarily provide more than the criteria require," the council says.

"The percentage and type of affordable homes required depends on which criteria apply to a development applicant, however most large developments have to provide at least 10 per cent affordable housing.

"For example, at Hobsonville Point it is 20 per cent, and those houses are priced below $550,000 so they can be bought by people who earn the average Auckland wage," the council says.