Overseas interest is ‘still strong’

Anne Gibson

Foreigners’ interest in buying New Zealand assets was as strong as ever, despite Overseas Investment Office data showing a decline this year, an expert says.

Greg Knowles, a KMPG tax deal advisory partner, agreed the numbers from January to March showed a fall but that did not reflect the reality.

“Interest in New Zealand is as strong as it has ever been,” he said. “There’s been no drop-off. The market is very healthy which is a pleasant surprise,” Knowles said.

A ministerial directive from Government ministers late last year announced a regime change but Knowles said the OIO was not declining applications.

OIO data shows approval numbers dropped from 23 between January and March last year to 13 in the first three months of this year.

Net investment also fell from $1.3 billion last year to $493 million this year.

But Knowles said it would be wrong to think that showed investors’ appetite for New Zealand had wained. Knowles said foreign interest was coming mainly from Australia and the United States.

Graham Wall, the real estate agent who sold New Zealand’s most expensive residential property for $39m in 2013, said he had noticed a change in buyer interest but this country remained extremely attractive.