In the December 2022 quarter, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn't hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, Stats NZ said today.
This compares with 0.4 percent in the December 2021 quarter, and 0.5 percent in the September 2022 quarter.
"The share of home transfers to overseas buyers has been 0.6 percent or less each quarter since 2019, after law changes in late 2018 introduced restrictions for most overseas buyers," construction and property statistics manager Michael Heslop said.
| Home buyer citizenship or visa status | No NZ citizens or resident visas | Corporate only | At least one NZ resident visa (but no citizens) | At least one NZ citizen |
| 2018 | 2.6 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 79 |
| 2019 | 0.5 | 10.2 | 8 | 81.3 |
| 2020 | 0.4 | 10.6 | 8.5 | 80.5 |
| 2021 | 0.4 | 11.1 | 9.6 | 78.8 |
| 2022 | 0.4 | 10.5 | 11.2 | 78 |
In 2022, 78 percent of home transfers were to at least one NZ citizen, 11 percent to at least one NZ resident visa-holder (but no citizens), 10 percent to corporates, and 0.4 percent to no NZ citizens or resident visa-holders.
Not all transfers involve a sale. They also include a wide range of activities such as deceased estates, trustee changes, marriage settlements, boundary changes, and changes to the proportions of shares of ownership.
Resident visa-holders' share of home transfers increasing
The proportion of homes transferred to NZ resident visa-holders rose to 11 percent in 2022, up from 8.0 percent in 2019.
"The share of homes transferred to resident visa-holders has grown, partly driven by the higher proportion of these buyers within Auckland," Heslop said.
The 'resident visa-holders' category covers sales and other transfers where at least one of the buyers held a NZ resident visa. It excludes transfers where at least one of the buyers held NZ citizenship.
| Region | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Northland | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 5.1 |
| Auckland | 14.3 | 14.8 | 16.1 | 18.3 |
| Waikato | 5.8 | 6.2 | 7.2 | 8.6 |
| Bay of Plenty | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 6.9 |
| Gisborne | 4.4 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 6.6 |
| Hawke's Bay | 4.2 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 6.5 |
| Taranaki | 3.6 | 4 | 4.8 | 5.3 |
| Manawatū-Wanganui | 4.1 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 6.1 |
| Wellington | 7.7 | 7.6 | 8.3 | 9 |
| Tasman | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 4.6 |
| Nelson | 5.8 | 6 | 5.5 | 7.3 |
| Marlborough | 4.8 | 4.6 | 5 | 5.6 |
| West Coast | 3 | 3 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
| Canterbury | 6.6 | 6.7 | 8 | 10.5 |
| Otago | 5.7 | 5.2 | 5.9 | 6.7 |
| Southland | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 5.9 |
| New Zealand | 8 | 8.5 | 9.6 | 11.2 |
In Auckland in 2022, 18 percent of homes were transferred to NZ resident visa-holders, up from 14 percent in 2019.
Regions with the next highest share (after Auckland) of resident-visa-holder home buyers in 2022 were Canterbury with 11 percent and Wellington with 9.0 percent. The proportion of homes transferred to resident-visa holders has increased in almost all regions in recent years.
