Winston Peters expects a change impacting the foreign buyers ban will be announced this year, but the New Zealand First leader denies his party is “softening” its approach.
Consultation is under way within NZ First and any changes will have to go in front of the party’s coalition partners for consideration before any Government policy is confirmed.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has publicly said conversations are ongoing about allowing foreigners to purchase property here.
To get the green light to buy homes here, NZ First believes foreigners would need to make a significant investment to the New Zealand economy. The party also does not want to disrupt the housing market.
The Herald understands no proposal has yet been put before associate Finance Minister David Seymour, who has responsibility for the Overseas Investment Act.
But it’s unlikely changes to loosen the current ban would face resistance from Seymour, who has been critical of the ban.
It was introduced in 2018 when Labour was in a coalition with NZ First. Classifying residential housing as “sensitive” in the legislation meant non-residents and non-citizens couldn’t purchase existing residential homes.
Rumours have swirled for months that the Government is eyeing changes to the ban, with Peters suggesting on several occasions he is open to considering an adjustment.
Foreign investment has been a critical focus for ministers as part of the coalition’s growth agenda. The Government has changed the Active Investor Plus Visa – the so-called Golden Visa – to reduce the minimum amount foreigners need to invest, and has begun establishing Invest New Zealand to streamline overseas investment.
In an interview with the Herald this week, Peters denied his party was “softening” its approach but did say an announcement will come this year.
Asked about a possible reversal of the policy, Peters rejected allowing foreigners to purchase houses worth $2 million.
It was National’s 2023 election policy to impose a 15% tax on overseas people who want to purchase property valued at more than $2m.
The policy’s costings received criticism during the campaign, but National stood by it. However, the tax proposal did not make it through coalition negotiations.
“The idea that for $2 million you could come into this country and get a key and that’s your investment was a nonsense,” Peters told the Herald.
“We said so before the election. We also debunked the costings for it, and were joined not long after that by economists who said that New Zealand First was right.
“We’re saying if you’re coming here with millions of dollars to invest in this country, then yes, you could buy a house, and we’re setting the terms for that.”
And what is the threshold, if not $2m? Peters said: “We will announce it to you before too long.”
He confirmed that would be this year.
The Herald asked if someone who invested in New Zealand through the Active Investor Plus Visa (it previously required a minimum investment of $15m or weighted equivalent, while the minimum option is now $5m) should be able to buy a property.
“If you are going to put $15 million in the country, I think you should be able to buy a house, yes. But not a $2m house,” Peters said.
He said any investors purchasing property in New Zealand would need to do so on “our conditions” like “smart economies” require.
National didn’t want to comment for this story, but Luxon has previously admitted his party’s previous $2m threshold may have been too low and has suggested lifting it to around $5m.
Former Prime Minister Sir John Key last week spoke about investor immigrants being put off by the foreign buyer ban.
“If I’m turning up with $100 million, are you telling me the best I can do is rent a house?” Key said.
“We’re a little country at the bottom of the world. And to make that work, you need foreign capital. You need smart foreigners to come here. You need positive population growth, migration.”
He didn’t think the ban was keeping house prices down as intended.
“If I’m a billionaire in China, I’m not going to wake up and think I want to buy a $800,000 house in Pakūranga,” he said. “They might buy a $50m property on the lakefront in Queenstown.”
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.