Saturday, January 29, 2011
Look who's moving in next door, or not
Chinese nationals are moving into the New Zealand property market as Kiwis find the dream of owning their own home slipping away due to high prices. Despite the Demographia International Housing Affordability survey released this week finding New Zealand to be one of the world's costliest places to buy a home, price does not seem to be a barrier for wealthy Chinese nationals who are being blocked from buying second or third homes in China.
The article suggests rich Chinese are motivated by the "higher prestige and status" that comes with increased home ownership - and presumably the opportunity to turn these houses into opium dens too.
As the Chinese government begins restricting multiple house sales at home, the Herald infers, the Chinese are buying up family homes here forcing true blue jandal-wearing Kiwis into poverty.
But then here's the catch, here's the quote from the one Real Estate company the journalist actually talked to:
"There hasn't been an increase in the number of sales, but certainly the inquiries are starting to come in," said managing director Peter Thompson. He said he could not say how many properties in the past six months were sold to Chinese nationals because the agency did not keep a record of the nationalities of buyers.
So is there any evidence at all in this story to suggest the Chinese are increasingly buying up Hone and Elizabeth's first dream home?
The sole example of a Chinese national *actually trying* to buy property the Herald gives is this:
A licensed immigration adviser, whose client is among the 43 Chinese (high net wealth individuals looking to emigrate here) said his client had also asked him to search for a commercial property around the $2 million price range.
How many young kiwis looking to get into the property market are looking at $2 million commercial properties?
Perhaps if the Herald went to the North Shore of Auckland it'd see communities full of English and South African nationals - possibly motivated by prestige and status (or just by the need for a roof over their families' heads) - buying up young kiwis' houses too.
For shame.
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