Wealthy Americans are among the ultra-rich buyers arriving in private jets and zeroing in on Queenstown’s priciest properties as new foreign house-buyer rules come into force.
As of yesterday, Active Investor Plus resident visa holders — available to those who have invested between $5million and $10m in New Zealand investments — are able to buy or build a home in the country, worth at least $5m.
While, anecdotally, there is no shortage of high net-worth individuals looking to take advantage of the ‘‘golden visa’’, satisfying the demand may prove the challenge.
A Treasury analysis report, released in December, showed about 0.5% of New Zealand’s housing stock, equating to about 10,000 properties, was valued at $5m or above.
Queenstown Lakes District Council records, as at September, showed 1273 dwellings, or about 5% of the district’s almost 24,000 properties, had a valuation for rating purposes at that level.
But Bayleys Queenstown chief executive Stacy Coburn said there might be even fewer properties than that open to foreign purchase.
‘‘We had a presentation from Land Information New Zealand and they reckon roughly 450 houses in the country, 100 of which are down here, so it’s still a small part of the market.’’
It seems, however, many international buyers are applying the first-come, first-served philosophy.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty (NZSIR) managing director Mark Harris said last week in Queenstown — coinciding with the New Zealand Open golf tournament — was one of the busiest in some time.
Over the week, 14 sales were recorded, one over $10m and another over $7m.
‘‘About half a dozen private jets arrived in Queenstown over the past few weeks and they continue to arrive regularly.
‘‘High-net-worth individuals are now increasingly physically present in Queenstown and Auckland for viewings, rather than just inquiring from a distance.’’
Buyers have been visiting from the United States, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Japan and China, mostly interested in residential homes above $10m in Queenstown, Arrowtown and Wanaka, and blue chip areas of Auckland, Mr Harris said.
For NZSIR, sales in the $5m-plus bracket were up 55.6% nationally compared with this time last year — the Southern Lakes accounted for almost 80% of those transactions.
Mr Harris said overseas buyer participation doubled year on year, from just over 6.5% in January and February last year to 13% for the same period this year, ‘‘and that was before the policy change came into effect’’.
The real estate agency’s website traffic was also showing clear indicators the demand was ‘‘definitely there’’ from overseas buyers.
‘‘The challenge for the market will be meeting that demand, as properties in the $10m-plus bracket are still relatively rare in New Zealand.’’
Mr Coburn said Bayleys Queenstown had seen a ‘‘distinct uplift’’ in viewings and inquiry, particularly from North America.
‘‘We have got a lot of inquiry about the golden visa, and we have actually got Americans out [at present] from San Francisco Bay looking at property who qualify under that scheme as well.
‘‘They are coming down here, and they are looking.’’
The jury was still out, though, as to what that would convert into.
‘‘But I guess what’s happening with world events and amendments to foreign ownership [in New Zealand] outside Singapore and Australia, it’s certainly created a lot of interest.’’
