 |
Matt
Lauer, disgraced NBC host, bought a long-term lease to the 16,000-acre property
in February 2017 which stretches from the mountains down to the shores of Lake
Hawaea and Lake Wanaka on the country's south island (pictured)
|
●Rich expats making
doomsday bunkers 'increased New Zealand home prices' ●So the government is now
set to ban foreigners from buying homes ●It comes after purchases
by Peter Thiel and former NBC host Matt Lauer
New Zealand is set
to ban foreigners buying homes after a spate of millionaires creating luxury
doomsday bunkers has apparently pushed property prices up for local buyers.
 |
New
Zealand (pictured) is set to ban foreigners buying homes after a spate of
millionaires creating luxury doomsday bunkers has apparently pushed property
prices up for local buyers
|
It
comes after purchases by PayPal founder Peter Thiel and disgraced former NBC
host Matt Lauer, who lost his job after allegations of sexual misconduct.
The
country's centre-left government, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, has
blamed the wealthy expats for their major housing crisis with homelessness
rates being among the highest in the developed world.
Ms
Ardern says the law change banning foreigners from owning most types of homes
in New Zealand - due to pass in parliament next week - will help decrease
property prices.
This
along with plans to create 100,000 affordable housing units in a decade will solve
the country’s infrastructure woes and its weak construction industry.
The
trend of the super-rich planning a safe space to ride out the apocalypse in New
Zealand has become ‘almost a cliche’ in recent years, report The Telegraph.
LinkedIn
co-founder Reid Hoffman told The New Yorker last year: 'Saying you're buying a
house in New Zealand is kind of a wink, wink, say no more.’
The
new bill will allow non-residents to buy new apartments in large builds, with
existing homes only being made available to people from Australia and
Singapore, due to free trade rules.
Yet
David Parker, Minister for Trade and Economic Development, said the bill, which
he is responsible, for isn’t only about house prices.
‘In
this world of concentrating wealth, we don’t want this coterie of ultra-wealthy
people overseas being able to outbid successful New Zealanders for what is our
birthright, not theirs,’ he said.
However
many economists, including the International Monetary Fund, question whether
that is actually the case in New Zealand.
Only
3.3% of properties were bought by non-residents in the first three months of
this year, official figures released in June show.
Yet
in the country’s largest city, Auckland, international buyers made up 18.7% of
purchases.
While
in glamorous Queenstown, 9.7%of property sales went to foreigners.
‘But
house prices have increased everywhere,’ said Shamubeel Eaqub, a housing
economist with Auckland consultancy Sense Partners.
Graham
Wall, an Auckland-based real estate broker whose clients have included the
Sultan of Brunei and Mr Thiel said the rich expats he deals with are nervous
about the new law.
‘People
are surprised and bemused, having been so welcome here, and they cannot
understand the new hostility,’ he said.
He
added that those rich international landowners have created thousands of jobs
for New Zealanders and billions of dollars for tourism.
Recently
a social housing scheme planned for Queenstown nearly fell through after it
lost its European investor, Foundation Capital, in March following the
impending ban.
A lawmaker from the centre-Right National party, Amy Adams, claimed she had heard of other housing developments that had failed due to investors being wary of the new law.
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