Overseas buyers snap up properties
One in five central Auckland homes are sold to foreigners
Almost one in five central Auckland property sales were to overseas buyers in the first three months of this year. Data from Statistics New Zealand released yesterday showed 450 properties in Waitemata¯ ward were sold to foreigners over that period.
That amounted to 19 per cent of the sales in the area, which includes the Auckland CBD, inner city suburbs and Waiheke Island.
It come as the Government cracks down on the sale of properties to overseas buyers with its proposed changes to the Overseas Investment Act.
While the proportion of houses going overseas was more pronounced in the Waitemata¯ ward, nationally just three per cent of property transfers went to foreign buyers in the three months to March.
Bindi Norwell, chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, said the figures were not high enough to support a foreign buyer ban, despite higher numbers in some regions.
“In our view, the figures from Statistics NZ confirm that it’s not worth going ahead with a blanket ban on foreign buyers across New Zealand,” she said.
“The only areas in New Zealand where there is a significant proportion of sales made to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenships or resident visas are Auckland and Queenstown Lakes with 7.3 per cent and 9.7 per cent of sales respectively.”
Although Statistics NZ highlighted the 19 per cent proportion in the Waitemata¯ ward to overseas buyers, Norwell said this was unlikely to significantly impact the overall market. A spokesperson for Statistics NZ said consultation about amendments to the Overseas Invest- ment Act may have been a factor in a recent increase in the proportion of sales to foreigners.
It was noted that “the proposed changes could make it more challenging for overseas buyers to purchase residential land in New Zealand”.
In the March 2018 quarter there were 40,740 property transfers, including 32,880 home transfers.
Almost four in five of the homes were sold to at least one New Zealand citizen. The other one in five were sold to corporate entities, residentvisa holders, and overseas buyers.
The data also showed house sales were down 2.4 per cent on the year while property sales were down 2.8 per cent on the year. Statistics NZ has taken over the task of publishing the home transfer statistics from Land Information New Zealand.
Trade Minister David Parker said the figures vindicate the Government’s coming ban on foreign ownership. “Whether it’s iconic places beside South Island lakes or properties in the most socio-economically deprived parts of Auckland, the principle is the same: New Zealanders should not be outbid by … people who don’t live here,” he said.
— The spiking price of fuel, slow progress on housing and infrastructure and the threat of rising labour costs has sent business confidence in the country’s biggest city into “free fall”, says Auckland Chamber of Commerce boss Michael Barnett.
The chamber last week surveyed 800 businesses and found nearly half (44 per cent) believed the economy will deteriorate over the rest of this year.
Only 15 per cent thought the economy would improve during that time.
Compare that to June last year, when a third of businesses surveyed thought the economy would improve while only eight per cent believed things would get worse.
The chamber said that skill shortages were getting more pronounced
Bindi Norwell
Michael Barnett