$572pw: Auckland's mortgages soar

Homes are at their most affordable in six years - apart from in Auckland, where the average weekly mortgage is now more than $570 a week.

The Roost Home Loan Affordability report, issued today, shows Aucklanders need an average 10.4 years to save the 20 per cent deposit needed to buy a home - double the time for someone in Invercargill.

The report shows the average weekly mortgage payment on an Auckland house has risen to $572.47.

That means an Aucklander would pay 70.5 per cent of the region's average weekly wage - $812.04 take-home pay - on the mortgage for a median-priced Auckland house bought last month. This is up from 70.2 per cent in August.

Outside Auckland, affordability is worst in Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton and Tauranga, the report shows.

But everywhere else, tax cuts, cheap money and flat house prices have made housing the most affordable it has been in six years.

Nationally, it now takes 58.1 per cent of a median after-tax income to repay a mortgage - the third consecutive drop in as many months and a level last seen in late 2004.

To read the full NZ Herald article, click here

Posted: 21 Oct 2010

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