The government last Saturday relaxed to some extent the foreign buyer ban, introduced in 2018, which meant only Kiwis, Aussies and Singaporeans can buy New Zealand homes.
It passed an amendment to the Overseas Investment Act allowing holders of residency visas, under current and previous investor categories, to buy a residential property valued at over $5m.
It’s a visa you can obtain if you’ve also invested between $5m and $10m into NZ investments.
The amendment’s expected to come into effect in about three months’ time.
Local lawyer Elliot Goldman says "it will definitely be a positive development for the Queenstown market, given Queenstown has become a popular base for investor migrants over the years".
"Homes (including new builds) with a purchase price over $5m are likely to attract renewed interest under the new settings."
However, while calling it a positive step for Queenstown, Goldman says "it remains some distance from the relatively open market settings we had prior to 2018".
Local buyer’s agent Jo Eddington says "from a market perspective, this is very significant".
"The demand has been here for some time in Queenstown; it’s simply been waiting for regulatory certainty."
She expects Queenstown will see the first deals proceed in NZ under the new rules once they take effect.
Local realtor Hamish Walker says the amendment "only adds fuel to the fire for demand for higher-end properties in Queenstown".
"Since the government announced the [partial] reversal of the foreign buyer ban [in September], our website is seeing an increasing number of offshore people searching for properties in Queenstown."
This past 12 months had already seen the most $5m-plus Queenstown transactions since 2020, Walker adds.
