Bayleys data shows regional threshold mismatch is steering wealthy buyers toward Auckland and Queenstown
New research from Bayleys Real Estate has found that 29% of New Zealand's most expensive properties remain unavailable to buyers using the Active Investor Plus visa, fuelling calls to lower the $5 million entry threshold outside the country's priciest markets.
Under the scheme, overseas investors can buy a New Zealand property valued at $5 million or above, but only if it isn't classified as sensitive — including waterfront land — or exceeds 5ha in size.
Bayleys reviewed 650 residential and lifestyle listings from June priced at $5 million or higher and found 20% sat on non-urban land larger than 5ha, 11% were in marine or coastal zones, and 3% breached land-area limits on islands, with some properties triggering more than one exclusion.
Just 25 properties have been purchased through the scheme so far, most in Auckland and Queenstown-Lakes — a concentration Bayleys head of insights Chris Farhi (pictured) says reflects a structural flaw in how the threshold is applied nationally, OneRoof reported.
The scale of demand behind the scheme is growing quickly — Immigration New Zealand's most recent figures show 730 Active Investor Plus visa applications as of May 2026, representing a $4.26 billion potential investment pipeline, with US, Chinese, and Hong Kong investors making up the largest applicant groups.
Auckland and Queenstown dominate high-end listings
"At the moment you've got a good amount of activity in Auckland and Queenstown," Farhi said. "Prices in those two markets are higher than other parts of New Zealand, and you've also got a pretty good selection of land that's not sensitive. But when you get into the other regions, not only are there fewer listings above $5m, but they are more likely to be deemed sensitive."
He argues the threshold should stay at $5 million in Auckland and Otago but drop to $2 million or $3 million elsewhere, warning that otherwise "we are just going to see investors clustered in Auckland or Queenstown."
Of 463 listings above $5 million published this year, 324 were in Auckland and 78 in Otago, with only seven other regions recording any $5 million-plus listings at all.
Regional agents see opportunity for brokers and vendors
Property Brokers managing director Guy Mordaunt said overseas interest in regional New Zealand exists, but $5m properties are scarce outside the main centres.
"I'm in Palmy, and the record sale price here is $3.7 million," Mordaunt said, adding that in towns such as Taumarunui, Wairoa or Waimate, "you spend $1.5 million, and you've got a mansion with a pool and a tennis court."
He said vendors in the regions would welcome a lower threshold if it stimulated buyer activity. Oliver Road managing director Cam Winter, who sells in the Bay of Plenty and Central Otago, said a lower threshold "would be very tricky to decide, calculate and police," but welcomed a recent rule change exempting properties previously excluded on technical grounds — a shift he said would open up additional listings, including in Queenstown's Bendemeer Estate, to golden visa buyers.
Beyond the property market itself, questions remain about the scheme's broader economic impact. Not everyone is convinced the momentum will hold — a former minister has cautioned that much of the headline investment figures reported earlier this year remain uncommitted, warning the scheme's early billions could prove to be a "flash in the pan".
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