Statistics New Zealand has continued to collect data on non-resident purchases of New Zealand homes, and the results are interesting:
In the September 2018 quarter, 9.8 percent of home transfers in Auckland inner city (Waitemata local board area) were to people who didn’t hold NZ citizenship or a resident visa, down from 22 percent in the June 2018 quarter, Stats NZ said today.
“This quarter’s share of overseas buyers in Auckland’s inner-city is similar to the 9.3 percent of home transfers to overseas people in the September 2017 quarter,” property statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.
“This may reflect seasonal patterns, but that will not be clear until we get a few more years’ data. These results also may have been influenced by anticipated changes to the Overseas Investment Act.”
The Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2018 came into effect on 22 October 2018, after the September quarter covered in these statistics.
Across the Auckland region, 4.0 percent of home transfers in the September 2018 quarter were to people who didn’t hold NZ citizenship or a resident visa…
Nationally, 2.0 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold NZ citizenship or a resident visa in the September 2018 quarter, down from 2.3 percent in the September 2017 quarter and 2.8 percent in the June 2018 quarter. When Auckland is excluded, 1.2 percent of all home transfers in the September 2018 quarter were to this group…
The next (December) quarter’s release should shine a light on whether the Labour Government’s amendments to the Overseas Investment Act to ban non-resident purchases of existing dwellings have been effective. These came into effect on 22 October 2018.
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
