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.