The Southland town you can buy half of for less than the price of an Auckland home

A large swathe of a Southland seaside town is on the market - and it's selling for less than half the price of an average Auckland home.

The land is in Orepuki, around an hour from Invercargill, and is selling for $469,000.

According to a listing by Mike Pero Real Estate, the price is for 13,600 square metres of land and includes "the ruins and outbuildings of 16-20 Dover Street [and] will be sold on an 'as is where is basis'".

The listing adds that "for health and safety reasons under no circumstances will anyone be allowed to enter the buildings".

Owners of the Orepuki Beach Cafe Penny Sonnenberg and Brian McGrath told The Project most of the town's 60 residents are farmers.

"They'll probably have some cows and some sheep," says Sonnenberg.

One of those farmers is Alister Menpes, who says it's not uncommon to see whales swimming in the ocean from his paddocks.

"It's just a beautiful place and there's lots to do. It's best kept secret actually, but it's getting out."

Watch the video for Olivia Caldwell's full report on the town.