Auckland housing ballot: 'Yay, we won a house!'

Agnes Mondala and husband Rolando Mondala with their children. Photo / Kirsty Wynn

Little Zaira Mondala has a line-up of 16 unopened Barbie dolls at home - the four-year old is patiently waiting for her own bedroom before she plays with them for the first time.

That day is a bit closer since the family's name was one of nine drawn out of an affordable housing ballot today.

The Mondalas were picked out of 150 hopefuls who qualified for the Special Housing Area draw in New Lynn, West Auckland.

"Yay, we won a house!" Zaira squealed as her dad Rolando threw his hand in the air and whooped as his name was drawn from the ballot box.

The family, who have been searching for their first home for five years, had a feeling today was going to be lucky.

"I picked up a little stone from the building site this morning and I haven't let it go," Rolando Mondala said.

"I could feel inside me that this spot was going to be ours, where we live, our new future."

Mondala said winning the right to buy the house for the fixed price of $461,250 was the second blessing for the family.

Originally from the Philippines, they became New Zealand citizens last month.

The double celebrations come after a tough period for the Mondala family.

Rolando had to take six months off work as a medical assistant to have a large tumour in his jaw removed.

He had opted out of income insurance so he could afford to study and was diagnosed with the benign growth two months later. The family faced a huge financial struggle.

"But with our citizenship and now the house, everything is looking up," Mondala said. "We are ecstatic, absolutely ecstatic."

The West Edge residential housing development in New Lynn will eventually include 180 affordable properties, 10 per cent of the total number of homes in the 12ha subdivision, as part of its designation as an official SHA.

Two hundred potential buyers pre-registered with Bayleys real estate agency in the hope their names would be selected, enabling them to sign a sale and purchase agreement on the spot.

It occupies a large section of land to the southwest of New Lynn, formerly the home of Crown Lynn Potteries and most recently the Monier brickworks.

Developer Avanda aims to preserve the heritage of the site, including incorporating the use of bricks in the design.

Several hundred people attended the ballot, including potential home owners and their support people.