Auckland Council deemed this home as one of Auckland's cheapest, valuing it at just $72,000, while a neighbouring property was given a $59,000 CV. Photo / Supplied

Revealed: the Auckland home worth just $59,000 – and no, it's not an apartment

Author: NZ Herald,
Publish Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2022, 10:44am

Auckland's cheapest home has been revealed as being worth just $59,000 – and it's not what you might expect.

For one, it's not a tiny inner-city apartment.

It's also built in 2014, has plenty of room for the family with 100sq m of floor space and sits on a whopping 10,000sq m of land.

But, yes, you've got us, of course, there is a catch.

The home is one of seven properties on Mangakura Rd in Helensville, about 45km northwest of the city centre, that the Weekend Herald understands were affected by a landslip a few years ago.

That's left land in the area unsteady and led Auckland Council in its recent capital value valuations to judge the properties as all being worth less than $100,000 – the cheapest CVs in the city, according to analysts Valocity.

It is understood most of the unfortunate homeowners have received payouts from their insurers.

Auckland Council deemed this home as one of Auckland's cheapest, valuing it at just $72,000, while a neighbouring property was given a $59,000 CV. Photo / Supplied

But before would-be buyers get too excited, the homes are considered uninsurable at present, needing significant remedial work before they can be insured again.

And some will likely sell for prices much higher than their CV.

That includes real estate agents Barfoot & Thompson selling one of the homes last month for $635,000.

That's way above its Auckland Council CV of $72,000, highlighting how the homes still have inherent value locked in them, despite a future owner having to spend money remediating the land.

That house has four bedrooms, a garage and sits on a hectare-plus lifestyle block.

It previously sold for $862,000 in 2015 and had a CV of $830,000.

Elsewhere, Nelson St in the inner-city is Auckland's cheapest street, according to an analysis of the cheapest homes and streets by the Weekend Herald and Valocity.

James Wilson, from valuation and property analysts Valocity, said that, in general, the nation's cheapest homes and streets are either filled with tiny apartments or underdeveloped rural blocks.

The Helensville home boasts gorgeous rural views. Photo / Supplied

"So, for the most, they have small lifestyle blocks in a rural location or a single residential dwelling and they don't have any zoning uses that would increase their value," he said.

The new analysis comes after Auckland Council recently revealed its new CV valuations.

CVs involve Auckland Council estimating the value of every residential and commercial property in the region every three years.

They give Kiwis a chance to get rough estimates of the value of property around Auckland and the rest of the nation when combined with data from other councils.

Auckland's cheapest streets

The data also shows that Auckland's second cheapest street – after Nelson St – is in New Lynn in the city's west.

Crown Lynn Pl is part of recent New Lynn rejuvenation efforts aimed at building more apartments and townhouses close to the suburb's blooming hub of shops and its bus and train transport links.

It's led to a series of apartment blocks springing up along Crown Lynn Pl in place of former industrial businesses.

Nelson St in Auckland's inner city is the city's cheapest street by average CV value with its apartments typically worth about$250,000. Photo / Alex Burton

And the CV data shows these apartments are some of the most affordable in the city.

They have an average Auckland CV of $306,104.

Browsing recent real estate sales shows apartments on the street selling last year for between $200,000 and more than $500,000.

For those looking for cheap apartments elsewhere in the city, Rosedale Rd in the city's north, near Albany, has homes with an average CV of $391,250.

In the far south, homes on Massey Ave in Pukekohe have a typical value of $394,737.

Aotea Great Barrier Island, long known for its tranquil baches and holiday homes, is another location filled with Auckland's cheapest properties.

One island home on Aotea Rd has a CV of just $175,000.

Crown Lynn Pl in New Lynn is Auckland's second cheapest street where apartments are typically worth about $300,000. Photo / Alex Burton

The island also has five of Auckland's 10 cheapest streets as ranked by average CV.

That includes Gray Rd, where the homes and baches have an average CV of $308,750.

Auckland's cheapest homes

Aside from Mangakura Rd in Helensville and Aotea Great Barrier Island, Haranui Rd in South Head in Auckland's rural northwest is another hotspot for cheap homes.

It has at least three homes with CVs less than $200,000, including one valued at just $142,000.

Some of the homes are small wooden houses built as early as the 1940s.

The cheapest streets outside of Auckland

The Whakatane district in the Bay of Plenty can lay claim to the street with the cheapest housing in the nation.

Homes along the forested and picturesque Ruatahuna Rd, south of Rotorua, have an average value of $28,167, according to Valocity.

Elsewhere, homes on Whangamomona Rd along State Highway 43, the Forgotten World Highway, not far from Taranaki and close to the Whanganui National Park, have an average value of $55,667.

The cheapest homes outside Auckland

Remote homes Westland in the South Island and close to Taranaki in the North Island are home to the nation's cheapest houses, according to council valuations collected by Valocity.

That includes a home close to the Perth River, north of Franz Josef, having a council valuation of just $8500.