Latest stats on foreign home buyers revealed

In Auckland, the share of houses sold to overseas residents was slightly higher than the rest of the country, at 4 per cent. Photo / Nick Reed

The share of New Zealand homes being bought by overseas residents remains steady at around 3 per cent, newly-released data shows.

In the last three months, 1431 out of 53,991 residential properties were bought by people with overseas tax residency.

Chinese and Australian tax residents were the biggest buyers, snapping up more than half of the 1431 homes between them.

The data is not a comprehensive foreign ownership register. It counts all corporations and trusts as New Zealand residents.

It also counts student and temporary workers as residents, even if they do not intend to live in the property or stay in the country.

In Auckland, the share of houses sold to overseas residents was slightly higher than the rest of the country, at 4 per cent.

Chinese tax residents bought 372 out of 648 (57 per cent) of the Auckland homes sold to overseas residents in the last three months.

The proportion of New Zealand houses being bought by people living offshore between July and September was similar to the previous two quarters.

In all, 60 per cent of house sales and purchases in the last quarter involved people who had only New Zealand tax residency.

Another 37 per cent involved people who did not need to provide tax information - mostly New Zealand citizens or residents buying their main home.

The data also showed that overseas residents were responsible for 3 per cent of the house sales in New Zealand.