US billionaires eyeing up Auckland as National Party teases lift of buyer ban

Friday, 1 September 2023

Tech entrepreneurs and cyrpto bros have been waiting to move to New Zealand, and a proposal to lift a foreign buyer ban has seen a sudden surge in enquiries, a real estate agent says.

A policy that would allow foreign buyers to purchase property worth over $2 million dollars - provided they pay a 15% tax - has reportedly led to a surge in interest from American tech billionaires.

Real estate agent Caleb Paterson, who works with high net worth overseas individuals, said the National Party policy announced on Thursday has already caught the eye of overseas entrepreneurs.

Though the policy is predicated on National winning the election, Paterson said he had received 20 phone calls from people on his database of wealthy buyers.

“I hadn’t actually heard about the announcement yet, and I learnt about it from a client in the United States.”

Paterson said that overseas buyers of New Zealand’s luxury real estate are usually from the tech sector or construction firms.

Caleb Paterson says billionaires look to New Zealand because they want “acres of land on the water, so they can park their launch, but also have room to land their helicopter'.

“A lot of it is what we call ‘new money’. I’m dealing with a client who did well for himself out of cryptocurrency.”

He said they were eyeing up coastal suburbs in Auckland; “Mission Bay, St Heliers, Takapuna, Pt Chevalier.”

The “holiday coast” including Omaha, Mangawhai and Te Arai are also high up the list.

“If you look at Te Arai - where else can you have such close access to three of the world’s highest ranked golf courses? With it being opened up to the American buyer pool, that type of property could triple in value.”

“I have $50m worth of listings coming on the market in the next six weeks and I have had a call from every single homeowner waiting to know if they should wait,” real estate agent Caleb Paterson says.

He said the Bay of Islands also had what billionaires wanted.

“They are looking for acres of land on the water, so they can park their launch, but also have room to land their helicopter. These buyers want to fly in with their friends easily and also need room to build additional amenities.”

Patterson said that there was a big difference between $3 million property buyers and $30 million buyers. People with bigger budgets are not as picky, willing to bring a property up to the way they want it.

The housing market is predicted to heat up as a result of National’s tax policy.

“If this policy is introduced, it will be a return to a time when we are dealing consistently with billionaires again. This segment will come in and buy what they need and what they want, with little concern for price if the property is right.

Patterson also believes that billionaires would be willing to pay more than 15% of the purchase in tax. He suggests that bands of up to 25%, depending on the value of the purchase, would be well received.

In the years since the “foreign buyer ban” was introduced, global factors like the pandemic and the Ukraine war had only increased interest from billionaires in New Zealand, he said

He expects that if the ban were lifted by Christmas, there would be a flurry of buying activity by January next year.

“I have $50m worth of listings coming on the market in the next six weeks and I have had a call from every single homeowner waiting to know if they should wait.

“For those looking to move sideways, it is irrelevant. But if you are looking to downsize, there could be significant potential upside to holding off.”

However, Patterson also acknowledges that any decision made based on speculation of a lift of the ban would be gambling on the result of the general election.