PHOTO: DEBBIE JAMIESON/STUFF – This downstairs apartment with two bedrooms and one bathroom near central Queenstown can be yours for $579,000.

Want to buy a house in Queenstown for less than $600,000? You have a choice of three apartments.

Price caps on HomeStart and Welcome Home Loan programmes encouraging first home buyers in Queenstown have been increased to $600,000 for existing homes and $650,000 for new builds, in line with Auckland.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said it was “virtually impossible” for first-home buyers to access the grants when the caps were $500,000 and $550,000 and the average house value in the district was about $1.1 million.

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