PHOTO: Pacific Legal
Press Release: Statistics New Zealand
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.
ENDS
A Resident Visa, the first stage, allows you to live in New Zealand indefinitely, including working and studying – but if you leave New Zealand you can’t return and live here as a resident unless the conditions (“travel conditions”) of your Resident Visa allow this.
There is a difference between a residence and permanent residence. … Resident Visas have travel conditions that only allow a person to re-enter New Zealand as a resident until a certain date, while a Permanent Resident Visa allows indefinite re-entry to New Zealand (providing the passport is valid).
You can buy or build a home in New Zealand to live in without applying for consent if you: … have a New Zealand residence class visa and are ordinarily resident in New Zealand. are an Australian or Singaporean citizen buying residential land only.
