Just Over 3% of Home Transfers Go to Overseas Buyers

Just Over 3% of Home Transfers Go to Overseas Buyers

In the March 2018 quarter, just over 3 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or resident visas, Stats NZ said today.

“The proportion of homes transferred to overseas people rose to 3.3 percent in the March quarter, from 2.9 percent in the December 2017 quarter,” property statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

“This increase was driven by a fall in the total number of transfers, and a small rise in the number of transfers to overseas people.”

“The proportion of overseas sellers also increased in the March quarter, to reach 1.5 percent, after staying steady at 1.3 percent for a year.”

Nearly 33,000 homes were transferred in the March 2018 quarter. Almost 4 in 5 of these were transferred to at least one New Zealand citizen. The other 1 in 5 were transferred to corporate entities, resident-visa holders, and overseas people.

“Home transfers aren’t just the sale and purchase of houses, although for simplicity we refer to the people involved in transfers as buyers and sellers. They also include the transfer of a deceased family member’s home, a marriage settlement, and administrative changes,” Ms McKenzie said.

n the March 2018 quarter, nearly 10 percent of all home transfers were to corporate entities. Information on the ownership of these entities (by New Zealanders or overseas people) is not currently available. The corporate category excludes most trusts, because each trustee must provide information about their citizenship or visa status. Therefore, most trusts are included in the statistics for individuals rather than corporates.

In the March 2018 quarter, the territorial authority with the highest proportion of home transfers to people who weren’t New Zealand citizens or resident-visa holders was Queenstown-Lakes district (9.7 percent of all home transfers), followed by Auckland (at 7.3 percent).

“The proportion of overseas home buyers varies across Auckland. For example, it was 1.7 percent in Franklin and 19 percent in the inner city (Waitemata) in the March quarter,” Ms McKenzie said.

“Consultation about amendments to the Overseas Investment Act may have been a factor in recent increases in the proportion of transfers to non-New Zealand citizens and residents. The proposed changes could make it more challenging for overseas buyers to purchase residential land in New Zealand.”

Transfers to overseas tax residents pass 4 percent

Including homes, land, and commercial property, 4.3 percent of all property transfers involved at least one buyer with overseas tax residency in the March 2018 quarter (compared with 3.0 percent in the March 2017 quarter).

The tax residency status for a further 41 percent of transfers was unknown.

“Many buyers and sellers are exempt from providing tax details if they’re transferring their main home,” Ms McKenzie said.

“However, citizenship and visa information is required for nearly all transfers, excluding a small number of transfers such as Māori land transfers and Treaty of Waitangi settlements.”

Tax residency is not the same as nationality. An overseas tax resident may be a New Zealand citizen living overseas. Alternatively, a New Zealand tax resident could be an overseas citizen who lives in New Zealand, or a company with overseas owners.

Stats NZ releases property transfer statistics

Property transfer statistics are mainly based on land transfer tax statements, which are completed for tax administration and housing policy purposes.

Stats NZ has taken over the analysis and publication of property transfer statistics from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). LINZ produced the quarterly Property transfers and tax residency reports from 2016, and has helped Stats NZ replicate their methodology and enhance the data series.

See Datainfo+ for information on the methodology used to produce property transfer statistics, and changes to the collection now that they are produced by Stats NZ.

For more information about these statistics visit

Property transfer statistics: March 2018 quarter

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