- Foreign buyers are purchasing high-end homes under the new "golden visa" rules.
- Four purchases have been approved since March 6, including for two properties in Auckland.
- Agents report increased interest from US, European, and Chinese buyers seeking safe and stable investments.
Foreign buyers are in New Zealand and snapping up high-end homes under the new "golden visa" rules.
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OneRoof can reveal that the Overseas Investment Office has approved four purchases since the changes to the Active Investor Plus scheme took effect on March 6 this year.
The buyers - from China, the US, South Korea and Germany - have snapped up homes worth $5m or more in Auckland, Queenstown-Lakes and Hawke's Bay, according to Land Information New Zealand.
OneRoof can reveal details of three of the deals, but the fourth - a house purchase in Auckland - is still under wraps, with LINZ declining to give further information.
The three homes include a waterfront Auckland mansion sold by former NBR owner Barry Coleman; a stylish country estate in Havelock North; and a knock-down overlooking Lake Hayes.
The vendors of the Euchre Way estate told OneRoof they were looking for a $10m-plus buyer. Photo / Supplied
A lot of the furniture, fixtures, fittings, including the chandeliers, in the estate were sourced from Europe. Photo / Supplied
Buying Queenstown managing director Jo Eddington, who closed the Lake Hayes deal, told OneRoof she had been working with European buyers to find the perfect site for a new-build project.
Her clients had visited New Zealand four times in the past 12 months, but ended up buying their dream spot sight unseen.
The lakeside property on Arrowtown-Lake Hayes Road has an older home on it, but they plan to demolish it and replace it with a luxury new build. “The only reason they bought it is for the view, not the house,” Eddington told OneRoof.
“They are going to come out to New Zealand and are putting plans in place to build a stunning home. Most of the properties on Lake Hayes are quite big trophy homes. They will be putting something quite beautiful on that site.”
Eddington declined to say what her clients paid for the site, but said the deal came together quite quickly after the March 6 rule change.
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She said foreign buyers with the AIP visa had been window-shopping in Queenstown for over a year now, but were now actively looking to buy. “Queenstown has got a lot of appeal," she said, adding that there might be dozens of visa-holders who are ready to pounce.
Eddington said New Zealand ticked a lot of boxes for overseas buyers who viewed the country as safe and stable. Some had a five-year plan to move to New Zealand, but now aimed to bring forward their plans in light of the crisis in the Middle East.
Bayleys Hawke's Bay agent Gretchen Paape confirmed to OneRoof that a US family with the AIP visa had bought the European-inspired country estate on Euchre Way, in Havelock North.
OneRoof profiled the estate when it hit the market last year.
Vendor Debbie van Tiel said she was looking for a buyer with $10m-plus to spend on her family's designer home.
Buying Queenstown Jo Eddington expects "dozens" of property sales to overseas buyers with AIP visas. Photo / Supplied
Buyers from Europe spent four months looking for their dream site overlooking Lake Hayes. Photo / Supplied
Van Tiel, an interior designer, said she created the home with a famous fashion designer in mind. “We sort of thought if Ralph Lauren was going to live in the Bay on the Tuki River – a little version of what he would have.”
Paape told OneRoof this week that overseas interest in high-end homes in Hawke's Bay had increased in the last six months. She was now getting regular inquiries from people in the US, Europe and the UK, who were drawn to the Hawke’s Bay lifestyle and climate.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Pene Milne told OneRoof that she worked with overseas clients on the purchase of Barry Colman’s mansion in Auckland's Glendowie.
The buyers had shown interest in the estate in Auckland's Glendowie late last year, but had to wait until March 6 to act.
The property price has not been disclosed, but Colman told OneRoof in 2024 that he and his wife Kati had price “expectations around the $18m range”.
Milne expected they would be the first of many AIP visa holders to buy in Auckland following “significant numbers” of buyers flying in the last year to do their homework.
Sotheby's International managing director Mark Harris has noticed a significant spike in enquiries from foreign buyers in recent weeks. Photo / Supplied
“There’s clearly a significant pipeline of people who have scoured the country, scoured the suburbs and done in-depth research beyond what locals would typically do," she said.
New Zealand Sotheby's International managing director Mark Harris said enquiries from the US had ramped up since the Iran war began last month, with some buyers asking about properties with bunkers.
These buyers generally had budgets starting “from $10m to as far as they needed to go” and were usually looking at properties in Auckland, Waiheke Island and Southern Lakes.
Mint Realty Nic Goodman, who sells premium property in Hawke’s Bay, said she hosted US buyers last weekend. They were considering buying in Hawke’s Bay and said they were “petrified of living in the States”.
“New Zealand provides such a haven for people from what they are currently going through,” she said. “The timing of New Zealand’s policy change has been really good for New Zealand.”
Former NBR owner Barry Colman's Glendowie mansion also sold to golden visa holder. Photo / Supplied
A mansion on Victoria Avenue, in Auckland's Remuera, was snapped up by a foreign buyer at the end of last year. Photo / Supplied
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Ross Hawkins said the rule changes for foreign investors had spurred local buyers into action.
“It will take a while for the AIP people to sort of filter through because of what has been going on in the world, but I think there’s a window for the locals to get in before them if they move reasonably quickly, and I think that’s starting to happen.”
Bayleys Remuera agent Gary Wallace expected to see more $5m-plus transactions flush through. He sold a home on Victoria Avenue to an AIP visa holder last year for just over $8m. The buyer didn't want to wait for the rule change and got approval for the purchase from the Overseas Investment Office.
Wallace said high-net-worth visa holders from the US were targeting lifestyle blocks in Queenstown-Lakes, but that momentum would move to the $5m to $10m home in Auckland, especially among Chinese buyers.
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