Property transfer statistics are based mainly on land transfer tax statements. They capture property transfers by New Zealanders and overseas people. This includes information on the citizenship, visa status, or tax residency of people and companies involved in property transfers.
Key facts
This data has been randomly rounded to protect confidentiality. Individual figures may not add up to totals. Counts below six are suppressed.
- There were 40,857 property transfers, including 33,843 home transfers, in the December 2023 quarter.
- 0.5 percent of home transfers were to people without New Zealand citizenship or resident visas in the December 2023 quarter, compared with 0.4 percent in the December 2022 quarter.
- In the year ended December 2023, the areas with the highest number of home transfers to people without NZ citizenship or a resident visa were Waitematā local board (114 home transfers), Christchurch city (72 home transfers), and Queenstown-Lakes district (51 home transfers).
Home transfers by buyer type
There were 33,843 property transfers involving a home in the December 2023 quarter (up 7.0 percent from the December 2022 quarter). Of these:
- 77 percent (25,947) were to at least one NZ citizen
- 14 percent (4,746) were to at least one NZ-resident-visa holder (but no citizens)
- 8.8 percent (2,994) were to corporate entities only (these could have NZ or overseas owners)
- 0.5 percent (153) were to no NZ citizens or resident-visa holders.
In the year ended December 2023, there were 118,608 home transfers (down 8 percent from the year ended December 2022). Of these:
- 77 percent (90,858) were to at least one NZ citizen
- 14 percent (16,293) were to at least one NZ-resident-visa holder (but no citizens)
- 9.2 percent (10,947) were to corporate entities only (these could have NZ or overseas owners)
- 0.4 percent (504) were to no NZ citizens or resident-visa holders.
| 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 |
| 2019 | 720 | 14853 | 11595 | 117963 |
| 2020 | 675 | 16212 | 12900 | 122733 |
| 2021 | 630 | 18639 | 16134 | 131907 |
| 2022 | 492 | 13416 | 14361 | 100113 |
| 2023 | 504 | 10947 | 16293 | 90858 |
Information on the ownership of corporate entities is not currently available.
The percentage of home transfers to no NZ citizens or resident-visa holders has been 0.6 percent or less since 2019.
The Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2018 came into effect on 22 October 2018. It prevents most people who don’t hold NZ citizenship or a resident visa from buying residential property in New Zealand, with some exemptions (for example, some new homes, and Australian and Singaporean buyers).
Property transfer statistics (PTS) contain no information on the length of time that home buyers or sellers have held any visa or lived in New Zealand. The migration status of parties cannot be determined from PTS data. New Zealand citizens include people who have previously migrated to New Zealand and have gained NZ citizenship.
For information about migrants (people who are changing their country of residence) see International migration.
Home transfers to overseas people by geographic area
In the year ended December 2023, the areas with the highest number of home transfers to people without NZ citizenship or resident visas were:
- Waitematā local board with 114 home transfers (4.1 percent of home transfers in the area)
- Christchurch city with 72 home transfers (0.6 percent of home transfers in the area)
- Queenstown-Lakes district with 51 home transfers (2.7 percent of home transfers in the area).
| Geographic Area | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Auckland (total) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Upper Harbour (Auckland) | 0.5 | 1.6 | 0.7 |
| Waitematā (Auckland inner city) | 2.8 | 3.2 | 4.1 |
| Wellington city | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Christchurch city | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Queenstown-Lakes district | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.7 |
More data on the number of home transfers to people with no NZ citizenship/resident visas, by selected geographic area, can be found in table 2 in the Excel table ‘Property transfer statistics: December 2023 quarter’ under Download data.
Australia leads buyers with overseas tax residency
Of the 33,843 home transfers in the December 2023 quarter, 876 were to buyers who all stated an overseas tax residency, including:
- Australia with 270 home transfers
- United States with 159
- United Kingdom with 78
- China with 75.
Tax residency is not the same as nationality. For example, an overseas tax resident may be a NZ citizen living overseas. Alternatively, a NZ tax resident could be an overseas citizen who lives in New Zealand, or a company with overseas owners.
More data
Use Infoshare for property transfer statistics tables:
Subject category: People and communities
Group: Property transfer statistics – PTS
Definitions and metadata
Property transfer statistics frequently asked questions – DataInfo+ answers some common queries.
Property transfer statistics – DataInfo+ gives the general methodology used to produce property transfer statistics.
Property transfer statistics data collection – DataInfo+ gives the data collection methodology used to produce property transfer statistics.
Property transfer statistics concept set – DataInfo+ gives the definitions of terms and concepts used in this release.
Technical enquiries
Jeremy Aitken
03 964 8423
[email protected]
ISSN 2624-0424
Next release
Property transfer statistics: March 2024 quarter will be released on 30 April 2024.
