Otago and Southland look appealing for ''typical'' home buyers, as Queenstown seems increasingly out of reach for many, the Roost Home Loan Affordability Report shows.
It now takes 89.2% of one median income to pay the mortgage on a median-priced house bought in Queenstown in October, up from 77.8% in September, according to the report, released yesterday.
A ''typical'' buyer is assumed to be in the 30-34 age group.
In Queenstown, the October median house price was $575,000, up 15% on the month and 11.2% for the year.
The New Zealand median price for October was $407.525, up 1.9% for the month and 7.2% for the month.
Central Otago-Lakes, as a district, was second behind Auckland as the most unaffordable place to buy a home.
In Dunedin, the median price for October was $277,500, up 4.2% in the month and 10.4% for the year.
It now takes 46.3% of one median income to pay the mortgage on a median-priced house bought in October, up from 44.6% in September.
The index was 42.8% a year ago and 56.3% five years ago. The affordability index reached its highest point of 71.8% in March 2008.
In Southland, the median house price was $170,000, down 10.3% on the month and down 15.2% for the year.
It now takes 27.1% of one median income to pay the mortgage on a median-priced house bought last month, down from September's 30.4%.
The index was 32.7% a year ago and 43.7% five years ago.
The affordability index reached its highest point of 62.4% in January 2008.
However, the link between the three regions is Roost saying the median income for the typical buyer is not high enough to buy a median-priced house in any of the areas - even with a 20% deposit.
In Queenstown, the weekly median wage was put at $750.70 last month but the disposable income (wages minus mortgage payments) was only $81.21, down from $165.64 in September. The Queenstown mortgage payment on a 5.78% floating mortgage was put at $669.49 in October compared to $582.17 in September.
The Dunedin median wage in October was $698.52, leaving $375.34 of disposable income after mortgage payments. The mortgage payment in Dunedin was $323.10, up from $310 in September.
Southland's median wage was $729.22, leaving $531.28 of disposable income. The mortgage rate was $197.94, down from $330.64 in September.
