Home transfers to overseas buyers remain relatively unchanged

Recent figures from Statistics New Zealand revealed that almost 190 homes were transferred to people without New Zealand citizenship or resident visas in the September 2019 quarter – a relatively steady number from the June 2019 quarter.

The introduction of the Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2018 was seen as the main reason for the lack of any significant change, as home transfers to overseas buyers reached over 1,100 in the June 2018 quarter but quickly plummeted to 717 in the September 2018 quarter just after the act came into force.

“Home transfers to overseas people have fallen significantly since changes to the Overseas Investment Amendment Act came into force, settling around 0.5% of all home transfers for the last two quarters,” said Melissa McKenzie, property statistics manager at Stats NZ.

“Home transfers to overseas people are unlikely to ever reach zero, though, because of exemptions for Australians, Singaporeans, and some property developers and overseas-based apartment investors.”

Read more: Statistics reveal ongoing growth in consents nationwide

Statistic NZ’s figures also revealed that that Auckland accounted for more than half of all home transfers to overseas buyers in the September 2019 quarter – including 72 home transfers in Waitematā.

“Some of the inner-city home transfers may be apartments bought off the plan before the law changed, but the transactions were completed in the latest quarter,” McKenzie said.

“While relatively few overseas people are now buying property in New Zealand compared with a year ago, nearly 3,700 homes were transferred to only corporate entities in the latest quarter, for which we don’t know the citizenship or visa status of the owners, and a further 3,000 homes were transferred to at least one resident-visa holder.”