Four reasons Chinese house buyers love NZ

The Government's planned foreigners house buyer ban has prompted a Chinese property website to reveal the top four reasons its citizens want our houses.

"Find out four reasons why Chinese buyers like New Zealand," said Juwai.com which claims to be the No 1 Chinese international property website, commenting on Government plans to ban foreigners from buying existing homes but not from building them.

New Zealand ranks as the sixth most popular property buying destination for Chinese citizens, Juwai says, after the United States, Australia, Thailand, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Phil Twyford, Housing Minister, has expressed concerns about Chinese house-buying intentions here: "You can't blame people for trying to make a dollar but it's the Government's job to ensure the housing market works for New Zealand. That's why we're stopping people who don't have the right to live here from buying houses here."

Juwai said the reasons Chinese want New Zealand property are:

• Liveability: New Zealand ranks as one of the happiest countries in the world, Juwai said, resulting in one of the best qualities of life. "Life in New Zealand offers a healthier work-life balance and at a slower pace, which is a huge contrast to the high-pressure lifestyle in China."

• Environmental health: Chinese want clean air and high water quality. "New Zealand air is so sought-after by Chinese that is has given birth to air farmers such as Christchurch-based Breathe Ezy, who are literally making money out of thin air by harvesting fresh air from the mountains and valleys of New Zealand into cans to sell in China," Juwai said.

• Food safety: 77.3 per cent of Chinese consider food safety their prime concern and New Zealand is "famed for its food quality, integrity, and stringent safety standards. It's no surprise that Chinese would mark this down as one of the top reasons for liking New Zealand."

• Great outdoors: Beautiful clear skies, fresh air, pristine waters, rolling mountains and picture-perfect natural wonders like Milford Sound and Lake Taupo were listed as reasons for this drawcard and Juwai mentioned The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films.

These factors were "more than more than enough to see why Chinese buyers, who increasingly desire a space to breathe and really live, are highly likely to continue be enchanted with New Zealand – even with the new foreign buyer ban looming."

Juwai predicted Chinese people would rush to buy properties here before the ban and afterwards, continue to enter the New Zealand property market by developing properties.

"Chinese homebuyers have shown a tendency in the past to speed up their plans to purchase overseas properties when new taxes or restrictions are in the cards, such as in Vancouver and Sydney when new foreign buyer taxes were announced," Juwai said.

The Government's KiwiBuild could benefit Chinese buying property here, it said.

"With the new Labour-led government planning to build 100,000 new homes over the next 10 years under the KiwiBuild scheme, this means New Zealand could still be a viable choice for [Chinese]," Juwai said.