Seven years ago, four out of five Auckland homes were considered affordable - now it's just one in five.
Newshub can reveal new figures which show the proportion of houses valued at less than $600,000 has fallen from 78 percent of the market seven years ago down to just 21 percent.
That's 232,790 properties which are no longer in the category dubbed "affordable" by the Government.
The figures have been collated by CoreLogic. It looks at valuations of houses as at July 1 each year from 2009 to 2016.
In 2009, there were 324,233 dwellings available under $600,000, now there are just 91,443.
Labour Leader Andrew Little says this new data is real proof of how unaffordable houses in Auckland have become.
"What we've seen in just seven years is a total collapse of the number of affordable houses in Auckland," he said.
"It confirms what we all know, we've got to do something about it. The Government has to be involved in this and the fact that this government isn't shows how out of touch they are."
Newshub asked the Prime Minister what proportion of homes in Auckland were affordable, he said 30 percent - he is partly right - CoreLogic sales data shows 30 percent of homes sold in the year to March 31, 2016 were under $600,000.
"It gives you an indication there's still quite a bit in the market in that range," he said.
However this new data looks at housing stock as a whole rather than just those for sale.
When asked if he was satisfied with the proportion of affordable houses available in Auckland, Mr Key admitted "obviously we'd like to see more".
But Housing Minister Nick Smith wouldn't be drawn on that same issue. When asked what proportion of the housing market in Auckland he'd like to see in the 'affordable category' he told Newshub "the Government doesn't control house prices, it doesn't matter what I like".
The number of properties over the million dollar mark has jumped dramatically over the same timeframe - they have gone from making up just 5 percent of the market to taking up almost a third of Auckland's housing.
In 2009 there were just 21,006 homes valued over $1 million, now there are 134,992 - an increase of 542 percent.
"We don't have the incomes in New Zealand to sustain a city the size of Auckland with an average house price of a million dollars. It is just ridiculous," Mr Little said.
Using a lower benchmark of $400,000, there are fewer than 20,000 homes available in Auckland. This category used to make up 45 percent of the market, it's now just 5 percent.
CoreLogic points out that the majority of these "low value" houses are out on islands in the Hauraki Gulf rather than 'mainland' Auckland.
Newshub.
