Details hidden in the data

Estate agents will now need to provide their police record to get a license from the Real Estate Agents Authority.

Details of the number of foreign home buyers were released this week by Land Information NZ, covering sales during the first three months of the year. However, the data may not reflect the true picture.

Figures appear to show that just 3 per cent of home buyer's pay tax abroad. But Land Information's CEO Peter Mersi told Radio NZ that tax residency is not an indication of nationality.

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He said: "The 3 per cent measures those people who reported having overseas tax residency, that doesn't tell us anything about citizenship. That wasn't the purpose of the collecting this information."

Ten per cent of property transactions in the first quarter were exempt from declaring their tax status as the purchase began before January. Mersi also said he has no confidence in some of the information Land Information received from home buyers.

The statistics show that of the 1089 properties sold to non-residents during the first quarter, 321 were bought by Chinese buyers, 312 by Australians and 99 by people from the UK. Home purchase stats will be released every quarter by Land Information.

Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith said a land tax for foreign home buyers is now off the table.

Tougher rules for agents

People wanting a real estate agent's licence will have to allow the Real Estate Agents' Authority (REAA) access to their police records.

Thanks to a decision on April 22 at the High Court in Wellington, the REAA -- which issues licences to estate agents -- now has the right to see the criminal history and details of pending criminal charges of people wanting a real estate agent licence.

The court's decision means that anyone applying for a real estate licence must release details of their criminal convictions, pending charges, a record of any discharges without conviction and charges which have resulted in diversion to the REAA's registrar.

REAA's CEO and registrar Kevin Lampen-Smith said: "We are trusting real estate agents with what is, for most of us, our most important asset and we let them into our homes so it is vital that agents are well vetted."

Auckland

April sales numbers at real estate firm Ray White were 1478, providing a net turnover of more than $820 million -- a record for the company. Its average sale price increased by 1 per cent to $621,515.

The firm's CEO Carey Smith said the strength of the Auckland market is helping property sales across New Zealand -- as some Auckland sellers go on to buy elsewhere in the country.