Southland grabs top spot as NZs most affordable place to live

Southlandromped home as the most affordable place to live in the country according to the latest TopSpots report released today. In fact, it came top outright in 4 of the 6 affordability and living criteria measured.

House prices compared to average incomes is a key indicator of affordability and in Southland the average home costs only $207,000, which is less than 4 times the average household’s annual income of $56,600. That’s more than twice as affordable as in Tauranga, Auckland, Rodney and NorthShoreCity.

In fact from a possible 800 points available for this study, Southland scored an impressive 675; over 200 points more than the second-placed Selwyn district.

Being able to afford a home is a key issue, especially in the current environment. Should you be chasing higher wages or lower housing costs? What is left in your pocket after paying your mortgage? Would you be better off in urban Auckland or rural Canterbury?

In this latest report, Most Affordable (and Livable) Places, an in depth analysis was conducted across 45 New Zealand cities and districts with populations exceeding 20,000 to see how they scored in terms of house prices compared to income levels. The top 20 performers were also measured on how well they ranked against each other using criteria like crowding, rent/income levels, percentage of people living in owned homes and unemployment rates.

The report shows the South Island took out 7 of the top 10 spots, with Southland District itself taking the majority of the accolades.

For the full report and league table of NZ’s Most Affordable (and Liveable Places) go to www.iwantahome.co.nz

ASB launched the TopSpot series of reports as part of their commitment to provide home buyers with useful information and tools to make owning a home and finding the your ideal neighbourhood as easy as possible. The first report, called Healthiest Places, appeared exclusively on the ASB website - www.iwantahome.co.nz in October. The focus is different each month and includes topics like Best Retirement Places, Best Family Places and Most Prestigious Places, to name a few.

The information within the reports has been compiled from various sources, including Statistics New Zealand and QV.co.nz and was written by Stephen Hart of Barbican Publishing.



www.asbsecurities.co.nz  www.asbbank.co.nz  www.commbank.com.au