Twice as many homes were sold in the last quarter
People without New Zealand citizenship or resident visa seem to be struggling this year as Statistics New Zealand found that overseas people have sold or transferred more homes than they bought in the March 2020 quarter.
Stats NZ’s latest data revealed that homes transferred to people without New Zealand citizenship or resident visa dropped from over 2,900 in the year ended March 2019 to fewer than 700 homes in the year ended March 2020. They accounted for 0.5% of all home transfers in the March 2020 quarter, which was relatively unchanged since the implementation of the Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2018.
“Overseas people sold twice as many homes as they bought in the March 2020 quarter, continuing a trend seen over the last year. This is in stark contrast to two years ago when overseas people bought twice as many homes as they sold,” Dave Adair, the acting property statistics manager at Stats NZ, said.
Meanwhile, the number of transfers from overseas people remained stable at nearly 1,300 in the March 2020 quarter, with over 600 more sellers than buyers in the past 12 months.
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Stats NZ pointed out the Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2018 prevents overseas people from buying a home in New Zealand.
“The act affects contracts signed from October 22, 2018. As transfers are not counted until completed, it was more obviously reflected after the December 2018 quarter statistics,” Adair explained, adding that some contracts signed before October 22, 2018 might take months before they are completed and counted in statistics.
“Apartments bought off the plans may not be transferred to an overseas buyer until construction is complete years after the contract was signed,” Adair continued.
