New Zealand ban on foreigners buying homes will increase Australian acquisitions
Banning foreign property speculators has been laid out in New Zealand Labour's 100-day plan, which meant legislation is likely to be passed before Christmas.
The ban will trigger higher interest in Australian property by wealthy buyers from China, the USA and Europe.
New Zealand Prime Minister-elect Jacinda Ardern says she wants to ban overseas buyers from purchasing existing homes as prices grow more unaffordable for local residents.
The rise in New Zealand house prices over recent years has been fuelled by strong immigration, low interest rates and limited housing supplies.
“We have agreed on banning the purchase of existing homes by foreign buyers,” she said, specifying that the new rules only applied to non-residents.
They also have plans around farmland and other critical infrastructure, she added.
Anti-immigration campaigner Winston Peters, whose support was crucial for Ardern to form a ruling coalition, said it sent a message that New Zealand was “no longer for sale”.
A recent survey by property consultants Knight Frank found annual house price growth in New Zealand was 10.4 percent.
The median price for residential property in Auckland is $845,000, according to data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.