Military homes on market

A military house in Waiouru. Photo / Supplied

If Terrie Lloyd's Northland estate is out of your price range, a former military home could be an affordable answer to your holiday home needs.

The Defence Force is getting out of home ownership and has 140 of its 2400 houses on the market.

Forty nine have sold at Waiouru, 47 at Linton and 17 at Burnham.

The weatherboard and fibre cement-clad homes are being marketed by property consultancy Land Matters.

Spokesman Sam Pritchard said they had been selling for an average of $30,000.

Potential buyers have been eyeing them as baches, investments and farm accommodation.

They were taken off the market in February to be used as emergency accommodation for Christchurch residents displaced by the earthquake, but were put back on when nobody took up the offer.

New Zealand Property Investors Federation president Andrew King said the houses could be a good investment but there were hidden costs.

"By the time you've paid for removal, the connection of utilities, landscaping, holding costs and council regulation, you may end up paying twice as much as the house is worth." Pritchard said it would cost about $30,000 to move a house from Waiouru to Auckland.