Cheap houses becoming scarce

Out of nearly 200 sales, only 13 houses or flats were sold last month for less than $150,000 - seven in Nelson, four in Motueka and two in Golden Bay, figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand show. In July, 18 properties in Nelson and nine in Motueka were sold under $150,000.

The figures show a big drop from August last year, when a total of 68 properties across the region were sold in the lower price bracket - 49 in Nelson, 21 in Motueka, five in Richmond and three in Golden Bay.

In Richmond this year, there were no sales below $150,000 in either July or August.

"There is no doubt that lower-price property has moved up," the institute's Nelson-Marlborough president, Darryl Marshall, said.

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