Foreign investors are racing to buy New Zealand homes before rules that limit overseas sales are enshrined in law.
In the South Island resort town of Queenstown, about 10 per cent of home transfers in the first quarter were to people without New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, Statistics New Zealand said Thursday. That’s almost double the share of the previous three months.
In Auckland the proportion rose for a second-straight quarter, climbing as high as 19 per cent in some suburbs of the nation’s biggest city.
The government came to power late last year pledging to tackle a housing affordability crisis with a raft of measures, including a ban on foreign speculators buying residential property. Its proposals are passing through Parliament and are yet to become law.
“Consultation about amendments to the Overseas Investment Act may have been a factor in recent increases in the proportion of transfers to non-New Zealand citizens and residents,” Melissa McKenzie, property statistics manager at Statistics New Zealand, said in a statement.
The Business Times – 7th June 2018
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