Source: Radio New Zealand
A luxury house in Arrowtown. Supplied
Latest house sales data indicates there is a shortage of ultra-luxury housing to meet the requirements of high-net-worth immigrants.
Changes to the Active Investor Plus visa, which take effect next week, limit house-buying immigrants to homes priced over $5 million.
Data collected by sales portal realestate.co.nz indicates the tightest house supply constraints were emerging well above that level, with only 142 properties listed above $10m available nationwide.
International premium-grade homes priced more than $20m were scarce.
A luxury house in Remuera, Auckland. Supplied
Realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood said the top end of New Zealand’s residential property market was relatively immature by global standards.
“The AIP visa programme effectively introduces a positive demand shock into this segment of the market overnight, however, the supply has not had a chance to grow organically over time. The result is significant pressure on the supply of houses valued in the tens of millions.”
Realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood. Supplied
Data supplied by Immigration NZ indicates nearly 590 people from 33 countries have so far applied for residency under the AIP visa programme.
Agents reported a growing segment of applicants who were only interested in property priced more than $20m, with demand outstripping supply by about five times.
Portal data indicated there had been 36,000 overseas-based searches for homes price over $5m over the past year, with North America and UK making up over a third (34 percent).
“The United States accounts for around a fifth (19 percent) of international $5 million-plus searches, followed by the United Kingdom at 9 percent and Canada at 4 percent. That profile reflects demand from established wealth markets rather than speculative traffic.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
