Buying guide
Where are the cheapest houses in NZ?
Looking for a cheap house? We’ve scoured the country to find the cheapest place to buy a house in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Last updated: 6 September 2023
New Zealand property is famously expensive. In 2023, Auckland even holds the dubious honour of being the seventh least affordable housing market in the world, just behind LA.
But if you look a little closer at our country’s many smaller, more remote regions, there are still bargain properties to be found at way under the country’s average asking price of $864,650 (November 2023).
These are the cheapest places to buy a house in NZ
The three cheapest places to buy a house in Aotearoa New Zealand all had average asking prices below $600,000 as of November 2023:
- West Coast: $470,200
- Southland: $511,600
- Manawatū / Whanganui: $590,30
There are two other regions with average asking prices close to $600,000:
- Gisborne: $627,700
- Taranaki: $645,900
West Coast and Southland are the only regions in Aotearoa New Zealand with average asking prices consistently under $500,000 or in the low 500s. However, if you look at these regions on a suburb level it’s possible to find even cheaper houses.
Where are the cheapest houses in the cheapest regions?
Runanga on the West Coast was home to the most affordable property in the country in 2023 – it went for just $57,000 with a CV of $70,000. These are the suburbs with the lowest median values, according to CoreLogic:
1. Cobden (Grey) $258,200
2. Blaketown (Grey) $277,750
3. Patea (South Taranaki) $292,800
4. Mataura (Gore) $294,000
5. Wairoa (Hawkes Bay) $297,050
Mataura in Gore (number 4) is a particularly interesting little town. Not long ago it was the place to buy a property in New Zealand, but median values there increased by 138.9% over five years.
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There are still cheap properties in NZ if you know where to look.
Want to find some crazy cheap houses for yourself?
At any given time Trade Me Property is home to a few surprisingly cheap NZ houses, many of which are in the regions listed above. To find some bargains for yourself:
- Jump onto Trade Me Property’s residential search page.
- Leave the location as ‘All New Zealand’.
- Hit search.
- Once the results have loaded, sort by ‘lowest price’ and start browsing.
You’ll have to scroll through several houses for relocation and leasehold properties but around page five to seven you should start coming across sections for under $100,000. In August 2023, there was a quarter acre section in Ohai, Southland for just $79,000.
Keep searching and eventually you’ll start finding ultra-cheap houses. Again, in August 2023, there was a $95,000 one bedroom in Otira Westland for just $95,000.
Where are the cheapest houses in Auckland?
The cheapest houses in Auckland can be found in Auckland Central, Grafton, Manukau and Clendon Park.
The average price of homes in central Auckland and Grafton are so low because the vast majority of homes in these areas are apartments. Manukau and Clendon Park, on the other hand, are a mix of apartments and houses.
At the time of writing, freehold apartments can be found for as little as $300,000, and land as cheaply as $320,000. The cheapest standalone houses in Auckland are a little more expensive, usually starting at $450,000+.
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