Politics
Q and A

National's election result sees property investor interest spike

October 22, 2023

Q+A's Whena Owen reports that overseas buyers are seeing the change in Government as an opportunity.

Real estate agents say they're seeing a spike in interest from property investors after last weekend's election results put National in a position to lead the next government.

Tommy's Real Estate sales director Tim Clark told Q+A said buyers and investors have "definitely started ringing" because of the change in Government.

In Queenstown, Sotheby's managing director Mark Harris said he's noticed a marked increase in website traffic from people in the USA and Australia over the past week.

"We're not making too many promises at the moment [to those interested buyers]. Obviously, [NZ First leader] Winston [Peters] is still involved behind the scenes," he said of coalition negotiations.

Harris said New Zealand is often viewed as a safe haven, so interest in buying property here increases as the world goes through turbulent times.

Craig Lowe of Lowe and Co Realty said that, while it was great to see the enthusiasm in the property market come back, he didn't want to see dramatic increases in house prices in a short timeframe because "it's bad for society".

During the campaign trail, National said, if elected, it would allow foreign buyers to purchase any New Zealand home worth more than $2 million dollars.

Modern house in Auckland (file image).

The overseas buyers, except for those from Singapore and Australia, would incur a 15% tax — revenue which National would put towards paying for its promised tax cuts.

Economists and the Labour Party were among those who criticised National's numbers, questioning its calculations.

Meanwhile, experts said the policies to open up part of the market to overseas buyers and reinstate landlord tax breaks would increase house prices and demand for homes.

National pledged to fully reverse Labour's changes to interest deductibility tax rules for landlords by 2026. In 2021, Labour changed these settings so landlords could no longer offset interest expenses against rental income.

Property coach and investor Steve Goodey said Labour's interest deductibility changes "basically made every rental property in New Zealand worth a little bit less".

"Now with [the interest deductibility restriction] taken out again over a period of time… every rental property in New Zealand is going to go up in value a little bit more."

As for National's policy to reinstate no-case evictions, Goodey said "I'm on the fence as to whether it's a great idea or not".

Renters United president Geordie Rogers is among those not feeling the post-election glow.

"If I were a landlord, I'd be rubbing my hands. It's plenty of money going into my back pocket.

"I can guarantee that renters won't see a cent of that, and Treasury agrees with that analysis too."

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