A German family has clinched Queenstown’s — and the South Island’s — first Active Investor Plus (AIP) property deal just days after the rule change came into effect.
In accordance with the rule, the family put $5million-plus into a local property after first making a $5m-$15m investment into New Zealand businesses/funds, which also qualifies them for New Zealand residency.
Arrowtown-based buyers’ agent Jo Eddington said the family bought the Lake Hayes house sight unseen, although they had visited New Zealand three times in the past six months.
‘‘Knowing this was going to be a site a lot of people would be interested in, we needed to move really quickly, so we basically put in an offer within days of [it] being on the market,’’ Ms Eddington said.
The Overseas Investment Office then gave its approval, as required by the new rule, within a matter of days.
Ms Eddington understood the deal was one of the first three in New Zealand under the so-called ‘‘golden visa’’.
‘‘It’s great to get one over the line in the first week the law came into effect and to get the first South Island one in Queenstown shows it’s definitely the destination people want to be in.
‘‘I’m working with three other AIP visa-holders right now — another one is German as well and the other two are from North America.’’
All were targeting $5m-plus Dalefield properties, she said.
AIP buyers were operating at the top end of the market and were not affecting entry-level housing, Ms Eddington said.
‘‘These are families making a deliberate choice to live and invest in New Zealand.’’