New Zealand is the fifth most popular place Chinese buyers look to purchase residential property, a Chinese website says.
Labour's housing spokesman, Phil Twyford, released a translation of a chart published on Chinese real estate website world.soufun.com. It shows the top countries eyed by Chinese buyers seeking overseas properties were the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
Mr Twyford said the material was gathered and translated by a Chinese language researcher he contracted, "to look at the extent to which New Zealand homes are being marketed through Chinese websites".
Labour's trawl through Chinese language real estate websites also revealed real estate company RE/MAX had signed an agreement to "synchronise" New Zealand and Australian properties on Chinese international property hunting website Juwai.com.
A report carried on the Auckland-based United Chinese Press website quoted RE/MAX's Australia and New Zealand marketing manager, Michael Davoren, as saying the Chinese market was too big to ignore.
- Adam Bennett of the New Zealand Herald
