Resident visa holders acquired more homes in 2021 than in 2020, Stats NZ has released.
"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 says.
Resident visa holders accounted for 16,000 home transfers in the 2021 calendar year (or 9.6 per cent of all home transfers). This compares with 13,000 home transfers (8.5 per cent) 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 New Zealand citizenship.
Buyers with New Zealand citizenship accounted for the bulk of home transfers in 2021 (132,000 or 79 per cent of home transfers, compared with 123,000 or 80 per cent in 2020).
The proportion of home transfers remained steady for corporates (11 per cent of buyers) and non-residents (0.4 per cent of buyers) between 2020 and 2021.
There were 167,000 home transfers in 2021, up 9.7 per cent 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.
