Foreign Buyers Circulate Southern Lakes

With changes to the foreign house-buyer laws coming into effect today, high-net-worth individuals are shortlisting property in Queenstown, Arrowtown and Wānaka.

New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty (NZSIR) managing director Mark Harris says the individuals are now on the ground and active in the luxury market.

“Last week, NZSIR Queenstown had one of the busiest weeks in a long time with 14 sales, one over $10 million and another over $7 million,” he says. “We’ve seen a noticeable pick up in enquiry and actual viewings. High-net-worth individuals are now increasingly physically present in Queenstown and Auckland for viewings, rather than just enquiring from a distance.

“About half a dozen private jets arrived in Queenstown over the past few weeks and they continue to arrive regularly.”

The properties attracting the most attention have been residential homes above $10 million in the Southern Lakes – as well as in blue chip areas of Auckland – and buyers have been visiting from the US, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Japan and China.

Nationally, NZSIR’s $5 million-plus sales are up 55.6% compared to this time last year, with the Southern Lakes being the dominant high-value market. The Southern Lakes now accounts for nearly 80% of the national agency’s $5 million-plus property transactions.

“Overseas buyer participation has doubled year-on-year, and that was before the policy change came into effect today,” Harris adds. “Just 6.5% of Southern Lakes purchasers were from overseas in January-February 2025. For the same period this year, it has increased to 13%.”

Properties the high-net-worth internationals are viewing have expansive views, space and privacy, such as 33 Central Park Avenue (Lake Hayes), 27 Edinburgh Drive (Queenstown), and 114 Hensman Road (Queenstown).

The international interest is also reflected in the real estate agency’s website traffic. Harris says the NZSIR website is experiencing a surge in traffic from overseas, no doubt sparked by the Overseas Investment Act change which enables Active Investor Plus resident visa holders to purchase certain properties over $5 million.

Visits from internationals living in the United States have increased by 61%, while Australian users have increased by 24%, compared to this time last year.

“Our website traffic is a solid demand indicator, and from what we can see in these early stages of the AIP update, the demand is definitely there,” he says. “The challenge for the market will be meeting that demand, as properties in the $10 million-plus bracket are still relatively rare in NZ.”