Lotto winner could be property magnate

You could purchase 24 houses in the most expensive part of the country - Auckland's coastal North Shore where the average house value is $1,391,044. Photo / Michael Craig

If you win tonight's $34 million Lotto draw you could become one of the country's biggest property magnates.

Using QV's House Price Index, released yesterday, we can calculate how many properties the winner could buy should they choose to invest in the property market.

You could purchase 24 houses in the most expensive part of the country - Auckland's coastal North Shore where the average house value is $1,391,044. Alternatively, why not become a land barren in the Ruapehu District- the country's cheapest property spot - where you could afford 225 houses at the average value of $151,169.

You'd be able to buy 33 houses in the Auckland region, 63 in Hamilton, 61 in Wellington, 68 in Christchurch, 100 in Dunedin, 170 in Gore or 207 in Waitomo.

Maybe you'd like to mix it up? How about five houses on the North Shore coast, 10 investment properties in the country's latest property hot-spot Wellington, houses in Hamilton, Christchurch, Dunedin and Buller and still have close to $20 million in change. Not bad.

Lotto spokeswoman Emilia Mazur said tonight's Powerball draw would be one of the largest jackpots in New Zealand's history.

"If a single player is lucky enough to win big on Wednesday, they'll be taking home the second largest prize ever won in New Zealand - it's life-changing."

The last time the Powerball jackpot was over $30 million was in June when the Powerball jackpot climbed to a $40 million Must Be Won Draw in early July. Three lucky players shared the $40 million Powerball jackpot, each taking home $13.3 million.

The biggest wins in Lotto history:
• $36.8m Big Wednesday prize - Masterton - June 2009
• $28.7m Powerball - Papakura - October 2010
• $27m Big Wednesday prize - Tauranga September 2012
• $33m Powerball prize - West Auckland - September 2013