Chinese buyers holding back on 'high-end' property

A Chinese-based real estate website says the top end of the Auckland market has cooled. Photo / Getty Images

While some Chinese buyers are holding back on buying "high-end" property in Auckland, there is still demand for houses in the medium and lower end of the market, a Chinese-based real estate website says.

Juwai.com hasn't yet finalised its numbers for the third quarter of this year but still expects to see growth.

It also predicts a massive increase in overseas investment from Chinese buyers of international property over the next few years.

The Auckland housing market is cooling slightly and the boss of the city's biggest real estate company has said Chinese property investors are disappearing from the auction room.

Peter Thompson, of Barfoot and Thompson, attributes the the drop off to financial instability in China.

"There are a lot less Chinese in the auction room at the moment and at the open homes," he told the Herald on Monday. "The market has changed and some of that is the Chinese buyers. There are more requirements in getting money out of China now and that is having an impact."

Juwai.com's chief executive Simon Henry said he'd noticed a slow-down at the expensive end of the market.

"We have some high-end buyers holding back since China announced a tightening of enforcement on the export of capital.

"We haven't yet crunched the numbers on the third quarter, but we believe they will still show growth over the second quarter," Mr Henry said.

"Mid-market and lower priced properties, like those bought for students, are still in demand."

Changes in the way Chinese investors can export capital were predicted to lead to a huge swell in money flooding into New Zealand, which Mr Henry said was a "good thing".

"It will lead to more than one hundred million dollars of new investment in New Zealand property over the medium to long term, as well as new investment in local business and industry."

Last year, Chinese buyers invested $52 billion in international property and that was expected to rise to $220b a year by 2020, Mr Henry said.

"Ensuring financial institutions follow the rules is an important first step for China to give the yuan nearly full convertibility.

"Once Chinese business and individuals can more freely buy and sell foreign currencies, most observers expect a significant increase in foreign property investment.

"New Zealand will ride that wave too."

Mr Henry said the yuan was now stronger against the New Zealand and Australian dollars than it was earlier this year.

He predicted that might push some buyers towards New Zealand, as nations such as the United States, with strong currencies, looked expensive by comparison.

The spotlight shone on Chinese investment in Auckland property earlier this year when the Labour Party released leaked figures that appeared to show people with Chinese sounding names were snapping up real estate at a rate greater than their proportion of the population.