Americans looking for NZ property ahead of US election

New Zealand's biggest real estate listing web site has recorded a 141 per cent rise in Americans searching for property here in the last two days.

Peter Mangin, chief operating officer of realestate.co.nz, said he had been closely tracking American interest in New Zealand property by examining the number of users located in America.

"In the two days leading into the US election - November 7 and 8 - US-based users were up 141.07 per cent compared to the same two days last year. This suggests to me that Americans are looking at their options leading into the elections," he said.

Realestate.co.nz, with New Zealand's highest number of residential property listings, tracks where users are based when searching for properties, he said.

And Americans appear increasingly keen to look Down Under.

"If they no longer want to reside in the US, New Zealand is an attractive option for them," Mangin said.

Mangin said latest data revealed more.

"In the month leading into the elections - October 9 to November 8 - American-based users are up 51.36 per cent compared to the same time last year. On average, they are spending almost seven minutes on site, indicating they are having more than a casual glance.

"Interestingly, they have arrived largely via organic search and paid search (64.99 per cent) using such search terms as homes for sale in New Zealand", houses for sale New Zealand and Auckland real estate, suggesting they are looking at their options.

"It's going to be interesting to watch how it plays out as the elections close. It's more of a longer story. Those users might cool down or maybe increase. There will be more for us to dig into over the coming week or two because the elections will finish tonight our time and it will be clear what the national response will be," he said.

The website, established in 2007, is half owned by the Real Estate Institute and half owned by number of big real estate agencies.