- Five overseas-investor purchases were approved, including three in Queenstown-Lakes, one Auckland, and one Southland.
- The approvals bring golden-visa purchases above $5m to 25 since March.
- Southland agents were surprised because the region’s top homes usually sell below $5m.
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Homeowners in Southland may be surprised to learn that a wealthy foreign buyer is walking among them.
Newly released data shows the government approved five property purchases by overseas investors in the last month, including three in Queenstown-Lakes, one in Auckland and one in Southland.
This brings the total number of $5 million-plus property purchases by “golden visa” holders to 25 since the foreign investment rules were changed at the start of March.
Foreign buyers have largely targeted homes in Auckland and Queenstown-Lakes, so a $5m-plus purchase in Southland has caught many in the industry by surprise.
Southland’s housing market has benefitted from the recent uplift in the rural economy and Fonterra’s billion-dollar payout, but prices there are quite low compared to the national average, with buyers able to pick up a standalone house for less than $600,000.
Southland real estate agents were surprised by the news, telling OneRoof the region’s most expensive homes typically sell in the $3ms, not $5m-plus.
The region’s residential and lifestyle property record stands at $3.85m, set by the 2022 sale of a lifestyle property on Inverurie Drive in Waihopai, near Invercargill. The next biggest sale was a large lifestyle property on William Stephens Road in Te Anau, which fetched $3.1m earlier this year, according to OneRoof-Valocity records.
Bayleys agent Ben Henderson said there was a lot of interest in Invercargill right now, but few properties in or around the city would “crack” $5m. The city’s most expensive homes were in the lifestyle suburbs of Waihopai and Myross Bush.
The holiday hotspot of Te Anau, in Southland, has some luxury homes, but properties such as Dock Bay Lodge still fall under the $5m foreign buyer threshold. Photo / Supplied
A large lifestyle property on William Stephen Road, in Te Anau, sold for $3.1m earlier this year, which is a significant price for the holiday hotspot. Photo / Supplied
A private residence next to Fiordland Lodge on Te Anau Milford Highway, in Te Anau, sold last year for $3m. Photo / Supplied
“They are both sort of high-value areas. It’s where you get your big dollar houses around there. There will be a few around $3m and $4m. I don’t know if you’d get too many up to that $5m,” he said.
“They don’t transact that often – it’s the home that someone builds and lives in for the next 20 years down here.”
Henderson said the recent boom in commercial developments made Invercargill an attractive option for investors. “There are definitely people looking to put money here.”
Datagrid will start building its $3.5 billion AI factory next month on 49ha site in Makarewa, north of Invercargill, while construction of Awarua Quadrant, a massive 403ha industrial business park south of the city, is in the planning stages.
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Datagrid’s French owner, Remi Galasso, is unlikely to be behind the Southland purchase, with the LINZ figures identifying the country of origin of last month's buyers as the US and Hong Kong.
Calder Stewart Lower South Island business development manager John D'Arcy, whose firm is developing the Awarua Quadrant, told OneRoof he expected overseas executives to buy property in the area but not right now.
“The senior management team, I guess, would be on fairly sizeable salaries, so they would be looking at well-proportioned executive homes.”
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Matt Finnigan told OneRoof that the options for foreign buyers outside Queenstown-Lakes and Auckland were “skinny”.
Work on building a 78,000sqm, 360-megawatt data centre in Makarewa, north of Invercargill, is expected to start next month. Image / Artist’s Impression
A five-bedroom, four-bathroom property at 12 Lex Street, in Riverton, has an asking price of $1.9m. Photo / Supplied
Finnigan, who was recently involved in marketing a high-end property in Te Anau, said the high $3ms was a “massive number” for a residential property in the town.
“I think it’s awesome that a non-New Zealand resident has ventured into Southland,” he said.
“Obviously, it won’t be any sort of rural glory piece because it would have to be under 5ha [to qualify for an AIP purchase].”
Finnigan said it was very possible that the buyer had started in Queenstown and Wānaka and then cast their net wider, noting that Southland’s border sat just south of Kingston. “There are some pretty cool properties out there.”
Berry Real Estate director Graham Berry said Te Anau was the most likely spot for a $5m- plus property in the region. He is selling the golfing mecca Dock Bay lodge at 192 William Stephen Road, in the town, and told OneRoof that he was getting plenty of enquiries from golf-mad US and European buyers. The six-bedroom, six-bathroom property has a price indication of $4.25m, so falls short of the $5m threshold that overseas investors would be required to spend.
“[Dock Bay Lodge] represents such good value. It’s twice the size of anything comparable and no neighbours. So, you’ve got a whole different offering of peace and quiet and not looking at any other houses. That’s quite desirable.”
Last year local business owner Robyn Peacocke sold her Te Anau home and the neighbouring luxury Fiordland Lodge to Melbourne-based Imperium Group for over $15m. The two properties spanned over 30ha.
The seaside town of Riverton, often referred to as the Riviera of the South, is another possibility, especially for wealthy surfers, Berry said. But while there were several high-end homes in the $3m price range, he could not think of any worth over $5m.
Harcourts Invercargill agent Carl Wilson agreed Riverton was growing in popularity and possibly the only other place in Southland where properties under 5ha could get close to fetching over $5m.
“Riverton is absolutely smoking at the moment. Like it really is.”
A five-bedroom, four-bathroom property at 12 Lex Street is currently the most expensive Riverton property for sale on OneRoof. It has an asking price of $1.9m.
Wilson said between $2m and $3m would be enough to buy one of the nicest homes in Riverton. “Those properties are certainly there.”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Southland
