5pc of Auckland houses go to overseas buyers

Overseas residents bought 900 homes in Auckland, or 5 percent of total sales, newly released figures show.

1749 out of the 57,678 homes sold in New Zealand between April and June went to non-residents.

That amounts to 3 per cent of total sales over the three-month period - a similar level to the previous quarter.

In Auckland, 900 homes went to non-residents. That is a 1 point increase on the January to March quarter. Chinese tax residents bought 495 of those homes, much more than any other group.

Overall, 60 per cent of house transfers involved buyers who had only New Zealand tax residency. Another 37 per cent involved buyers who did not need to provide tax information - mainly New Zealanders who were buying their main home.

Land Information New Zealand deputy chief executive Russell Turner said the data did not provide a register of foreign ownership, "but it can add to the picture of what's happening with property in New Zealand".

He said property transfers rose by more than 12,000 in the most recent quarter, but there was a similar split between foreign and New Zealand residents to the previous quarter.

The data has been collected since October, and Turner said a clear picture would develop once a year's data had been collected.

The newest data showed that non-residents were also responsible for 3 per cent of the houses sold in New Zealand between April and June, also one point higher than the previous period.