Resident visa holders acquired more homes in 2021 than in 2020, Stats NZ said today.
“The number of home transfers increased across most buyer types in 2021, with a slight increase in the proportion of transfers going to resident visa holders,” property statistics manager Michael Heslop said.
Resident visa holders accounted for 16,000 home transfers in the 2021 calendar year (or 9.6 percent of all home transfers). This compares with 13,000 home transfers (8.5 percent) in 2020.
The ‘resident visa holders’ category covers sales and other property transfers where at least one of the buyers held a New Zealand resident visa. It excludes transfers where at least one of the buyers held NZ citizenship.
Buyers with New Zealand citizenship accounted for the bulk of home transfers in 2021 (132,000 or 79 percent of home transfers, compared with 123,000 or 80 percent in 2020).
The proportion of home transfers remained steady for corporates (11 percent of buyers) and non-residents (0.4 percent of buyers) between 2020 and 2021.
There were 167,000 home transfers in 2021, up 9.7 percent from 2020.
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.
Text alternative for Home transfers by buyer citizenship or visa status, year ended December 2017-2021
This stacked column graph shows the number and proportion of home transfers by buyer status. The total number of home transfers where buyer status is known ranges from 138,000 in the year ended December 2017 to 167,000 in December 2021. The proportion of transfers to at least one New Zealand citizen was 79 percent in 2017 and 2018, 81 percent in 2019, 80 percent in 2020, and 79 percent in 2021. The proportion of transfers to at least one New Zealand resident visa holder (but no citizens) ranges from 7.8 percent in 2017 to 9.6 percent in 2021. The proportion of transfers to no New Zealand citizens or resident visa holders was 2.4 percent in 2017, 2.6 percent in 2018, 0.5 percent in 2018 and 0.4 percent in 2020 and 2021. The proportion of transfers to corporates only was 10 percent in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and 11 percent in 2020 and 2021.
