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New Zealand bans sales of homes to foreigners
New Zealand's parliament has banned many foreigners from buying existing homes in the country - a move aimed at making properties more affordable. The ban only applies to non-residents. Australians and Singaporeans are exempt because of free-trade deals.
New Zealand is facing a housing affordability crisis which has left home ownership out of reach for many. Low interest rates, limited housing stock and immigration have driven up prices in recent years.
[...] [Foreigners] are now banned from purchasing most types of homes - but they will be able to make limited investments in new apartments in large developments.
[...] Chinese investors have been among the biggest and most active offshore buyers of property in the New Zealand market. Also, some wealthy Americans - like Silicon Valley tech billionaire Peter Thiel - have become New Zealand citizens or have bought property in the country. Average prices in New Zealand have risen more than 60% in the past 10 years, while in Auckland - the country's largest city - they have almost doubled.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @05:44AM
That's why, even though I'm in the bottom quintile of wage earners, I decided to be rich and it seems to be working.
People told me I was stupid when I bought a junked trashed house and sent me articles from the NYT saying how home ownership was a bad idea. Maybe it is and I just got lucky, but it's working well and in the absolute worst case, I will always have a warm place to sleep, even if it is with roommates who pay for my food and property taxes.