Expats and foreigners with budgets of up to $35 million are jetting into New Zealand this summer in search of property.
Agents say interest for properties from Kiwis living abroad, and from Singaporeans and Australians (who are allowed to buy property in New Zealand without approval from the Overseas Investment Office), is being seen across all price points, although the expected high-end second-home market has really picked up.
In Queenstown, the influx is notable, says Premium real estate agent Hamish Walker.
“There is a lot of interest out of Auckland, but eastern Australia has really picked up after dropping off last year, and there is a lot of interest out of Singapore.
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“They come here in their private jet for a four-day holiday and visit a lot of homes. I visit there twice a year for marketing, and this summer we would have had about half a dozen [buyers] come down from there – that is a lot.”
The good news, Walker says, is that many of these buyers do not have any budget limits.
He is fielding offers at the moment for one of the region’s most expensive houses, a six-bedroom 1350sqm Mason & Wales-designed mansion on Pinnacle Place, above Queenstown, that is asking $35m and has a stylish four-bedroom house at Blanket Bay just listed at the exclusive Wyuna Preserve.
Overseas buyers are interested in a luxury property in Sawyers Bay, in the exclusive Wyuna Preserve about 30 minutes from Queenstown. Photo / Supplied
“That [price] is not a problem. They can be weeks and months out of the [property buying] zone, but then when they’re in the zone, they want to buy immediately.”
Walker adds that his Singapore buyers have very specific requirements – close to the airport so they don’t have to drive far in winter conditions, privacy and security.
“They bring in their own chefs, the nanny, the works. They’re extremely busy people, travelling for work so Queenstown is where they come to enjoy their family time. It’s the only place they’re looking because it is one of the most beautiful places in the world,” he says, adding that the last time a place sold in Wyuna Preserve, in early 2021, it fetched $18m.
“With these places, when there are only six or seven like it, you don’t know what they will get. But it will be top money.
“Whatever they pay, it will be value for money. Some people will come here for three months at a stretch, others will just pop in three or four times a year for a week or so. If you rent those out, they’d be looking at $5000 or $10,000 a night, but some just stand empty.”
Walker says pickings have been slim in the $5m-$15m price bracket, so is relieved to have three properties in that price range about to come on the market. He is also fielding offers for sections from buyers prepared to pay up to $8m for land and spend some $16m and several years building their dream home.
Ray White agent Ross Hawkins, who sells properties in the Bay of Islands and Northland, Queenstown and blue-chip Auckland, says he’s seeing a lot more expats from London and the US this summer in what he calls the “nice affordable $2.5m to $4.5m mid-market”.
Buyers are circling a luxury lodge-type home in Ngunguru, Northland. Photo / Supplied
“I thought they’d be more coastal, but there’ve been a lot of city viewings. If they bring back dollars from overseas, they’ve got the opportunity to buy well in Auckland. They’re looking at family homes in Parnell or Remuera that they’ll rent out if they’re not coming back.
“It’s about the future, and they’re not over-paying like they did a year or so ago. They’re not going to get any cheaper and will always hang on to value.”
Hawkins says worsening global economic conditions and job layoffs might be a “bit of a driver”.
In Queenstown, he concurs with Walker that there is a shortage of properties for buyers who could enjoy better exchange rates with the US dollar and Euro. In Northland, he has spent the summer showing a five-bedroom, 2000sqm lodge-style property overlooking the water at Tongatu Road, Ngunguru which at one point had a $15m price tag.
But, he adds that the top-end market at both ends of the country would be helped by a change of government that would be more open to international buyers, such as Germans and Americans, purchasing holiday homes without going through Overseas Investment Office approvals.
“We need that eased to drive the economy; we need to invite international people into New Zealand to buy. They can’t take it [land] anywhere, and we’d still go through the process with sensitive land.”
In Wellington, expats are making their moves for family homes.
Just prior to Christmas, Tommy's Real Estate Wellington salesperson Jason Lange sold two houses to people who were returning from overseas.
And next week, he has seven four-bedroom family homes lined up to show another buyer, who has just returned from playing professional sport in Japan.
Lange has definitely noticed more expats house hunting with December sales of three-bedroom family homes in Ngaio and Mornington to an older couple returning from Switzerland and a family of four from Melbourne.
“At the end of last year, I actually saw quite a bit of that with that expat community either coming home or, in one instance. it was grandparents shifting back to be closer to grandkids. They wanted the backyard so they could still have them over.
“The common denominator was there wasn't much work left to do to them, the builder's report was really good, everything checked out with the LIM so the due diligence was really easy to do.”
Both the expat buyers who purchased late last year were cashed up and ready to buy.
One of the couples saw 10 properties in one day and made an offer on one the following day.
Lange says all the expats he has dealt with have quite specific briefs and want the family home with no structural issues.
“They are happy to do cosmetic stuff like painting and potentially kitchens, but no sort of structural stuff. Big-ticket items such as roofing, foundation work and removing wall – that sort of thing – people are certainly trying to shy away from at the moment.”
- Additional reporting by Nikki Preston
