- Kāinga Ora has sold 17 properties for nearly $8 million, and plans to sell 900 more.
- The state housing agency aims to fund new homes with the sale proceeds.
- Labour argues the sales could lead to increased homelessness due to reduced housing stock.
Kāinga Ora has banked close to $8 million from selling unwanted housing stock this year, OneRoof can reveal.
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As of last month, the state housing agency sold 17 properties, with one Auckland home fetching just over $1m.
The Government’s plans to sell 900 state homes over the next 18 months for an estimated $360m to $450m. The bulk of the Kāinga Ora-owned properties are in Auckland, with those in the high-value suburbs being sold first.
A Kāinga Ora spokesperson said it considered the age, location, and development potential of the homes when deciding what to sell and what to keep.
As of May 15 2025, the agency had over 100 properties listed for sale around New Zealand. The total value of the listed homes is more than $40m.
Two Kāinga Ora properties on Puroto Street, in Auckland’s Meadowbank, sold last month for an undisclosed sum. Photo / Supplied
A three-bedroom, one-bathroom house on a 1012sqm section at 6 Arron Street, in Ellerslie, Auckland, which has a CV of $2m, is one of the more expensive Kāinga Ora properties looking for a buyer.
Ray White agent Glen Young said he could have sold the three-bedroom cottage 10 times over had there not been an issue with the wastewater line. “A lot of people like it, it’s just the issues with connecting the services, really,” he said.
Young told OneRoof that most buyers saw value in developing the site, but there had also been interest from couples looking to renovate the home.
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The property is being marketed as price on application, but Young said market feedback had been below CV.
At the cheaper end of the market is a three-bedroom home at 8 Puriri Street, in Elgin, Gisborne, which has an RV of $360,000 and is being sold by negotiation. Property Brokers listing agents Bobby Lupman and Louis Girling-Butcher describe the state house as a perfect first home or investment.
Harcourts JK Realty business owner David Findlay said a lot of the Kāinga Ora properties that he had seen hit the market this year were older, smaller homes on around 500sqm sections with development potential.
“They are poor quality housing, just from their age. The buildings are in a state of disrepair and are vacant. They wouldn’t meet the Healthy Homes Standards, and the cost to get them there would be $20,000-$30,000,” Findlay said, adding that the cost of a full renovation would be $100,000.
Kāinga Ora is also selling a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home at 8 Puriri Street, in Elgin, Gisborne, which has an RV of $360,000. Photo / Supplied
“I can understand why you wouldn’t want to take on those expenditures for a two-bedroom home when you can sell it for more than $1m and go and buy a couple of nice Healthy Homes-compliant houses elsewhere in Auckland.”
Kāinga Ora has received independent valuations for each property, and Findlay said it appeared they were unwilling to sell for less than the valuation.
His agency had received 14 offers on an ex-state house, and because none of the offers fell within the valuation range, Kāinga Ora wouldn’t sell. “Are buyers getting bargains? Kāinga Ora definitely has a process to try and stop that happening. It doesn’t mean buyers aren’t going make money, but Kāinga Ora isn't selling to just anyone who puts in an offer.”
Findlay said Kāinga Ora hadn't swamped the market, but this could change if 600 state homes were listed all at once.
Several high-profile Kāinga Ora properties included in the listing data released by the agency have subsequently sold, although the sale price remains private. These include two duplexes on Puroto Street, in Meadowbank, overlooking the city’s Ōrākei Basin, which were worth over $4m.
Most of the homes that Kāinga Ora confirmed had sold, as of May 15, were in Christchurch. The total value of the 17 sales was $7.987m.
A former KO property at 35 Parnell Street, in Rawene, Far North, is back on the market for sale. Photo / Supplied
What the property looked like before its renovation. Photo / Supplied
The most expensive property was a 1920s property on Applewood Drive, in Henderson, Auckland, which netted $1.02m, while the cheapest was a 1950s bungalow on Somerled Avenue, in Dunollie, Greymouth, which sold for $275,000.
Eight of the properties sold for below RV, with one, a three-bedroom bungalow at 35 Parnell Street, in Rawene, Far North, snapped up for $201,740 - $318,260 below its RV. The property has since been renovated and has returned to market with an asking price of $460,000.
OneRoof reached out to Housing Minister Chris Bishop for comment and was redirected to Kāinga Ora.
A Kāinga Ora spokesperson said the money from the sales would be funnelled into building new homes in the right locations.
Labour housing spokesman Kieran McAnulty: “The National Party had a history of selling off our state assets.” Photo / Mark Mitchell
The agency declined to answer several of the questions, but confirmed it had plans to add 2650 new social homes in the two years ending June 2026.
"Selling our homes is part of our focus on renewing our portfolio - we have a long-term goal to complete 11,500 renewals by the 2030 financial year and renew all pre-1986 homes within 30 years. It is important to note that for each existing Kāinga Ora home sold, a newly built home is delivered elsewhere."
Labour’s housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said the Government was failing to maintain its remaining housing portfolio as a result of cuts to Kāinga Ora's budget.
“The National Party had a history of selling off our state assets, leaving the country worse off than when they came into Government.”
McAnulty said the number of Kāinga Ora homes would no longer increase under the current Government, which he feared would lead to unprecedented increases in homelessness.
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