'Reliable' housing data soon to be available

Smith told TVNZ's Q+A today that he couldn't give a definite date, but he expected data within three months. Photo / NZ Herald

Housing Minister Nick Smith says more reliable data on the number of foreign investors buying residential houses in New Zealand will be available just months after new legislation is passed in October.

Dr Smith told TVNZ's Q+A today that he couldn't give a definite date, but he expected data within three months.

Dr Smith criticised the Labour Party's release of data showing the number of home buyers with Chinese-sounding names, saying it was irresponsible when more reliable information would soon be available.

The new law would require property buyers not resident in New Zealand for tax purposes to provide an overseas tax number.

He said it was currently known that there were 25,000 people who were not resident in New Zealand who declared income from investment properties, representing about 1.2 per cent of homeowners.

Advice from government agencies was that Auckland's housing market was being fuelled more by lack of supply than overseas buyers.

"The constant advice that we've had ... is that overseas buyers are not having an impact on price," he said.

"I think it goes against the New Zealand way when you target one ethnic group and say they're the problem."

Dr Smith said he agreed there needed to be a public debate about what level of overseas ownership was considered acceptable in the residential housing market.

But he refused to be drawn on what level he thought was appropriate. "If officials were saying it was undermining the ability of kiwis to get a home, I would take a different view."

Former Deputy Prime Minister Sir Michael Cullen told Q+A he didn't think singling out Chinese buyers was racist, and that overseas investment must be having an impact on the housing market.

"If there is, as there appears to be, very significant offshore buying into the Auckland market, then that must be a factor in pushing prices up.

"If we were better able to address the supply issue of more houses, then that wouldn't be quite so important, but in the current context of constrained supply, then that does become the important issue," Sir Michael said.

"It does appear from anecdotal evident that a great deal [of buyers] are coming from mainland China.

"I'd have exactly the same attitude if there was clear evidence that the main pressure on the market was coming from Britain," he said.