Property transfers in New Zealand

Property transfer: Any transfer of specified estate in land. Not all transfers involve a sale. For example, they could involve deceased estates, trustee changes, marriage settlements, boundary changes, or changes to the proportions of shares of ownership.
Buyer: A transferee of specified estate in land. Where a transferee is a trust, each trustee is considered a separate buyer and must complete their own land transfer tax statement.
Seller: A transferor of specified estate in land. Where a transferor is a trust, each trustee is considered a separate seller and must complete their own land transfer tax statement.

Affiliation: The New Zealand citizenship or visa status of the buyers or sellers in a property transfer. In transfers involving a trust, each trustee is required to state their affiliation. Where the buyers or sellers are people without NZ citizenship or resident visas, we also produce statistics about the affiliation of their immediate family.
Corporate only: Refers to transfers where none of the parties were people. Includes companies, corporate entities, government authorities, and other non- individuals. Excludes most trusts (each trustee is required to complete their own land transfer tax statement).

Home: Any dwelling that is mainly used as a place of residence (eg house, apartment, or unit) whether tenanted, occupied, or not
Home transfer (home involved): A property transfer where at least one buyer and one seller both stated on the land transfer tax statement that the transfer includes land that has a home on it.

NZ tax non-resident: A person or company who stated at least one overseas tax residence on a land transfer tax statement.
NZ tax resident: A person or company who stated no overseas tax residences on a land transfer tax statement, and who was not exempt from providing tax details.
Mix including NZ tax residency: At least one party stated an overseas tax residence, but at least one other non-exempt party stated no overseas tax residences.
Exempt: A buyer or seller can be exempt from providing information about their tax residency, for example if the transfer involves their main home. However, such parties are still required to provide informationller can be exempt from providing information about their tax residency, for example if the transfer involves their main home. However, such parties are still required to provide information about their affiliation (unless the transfer relates to Māori land or a Treaty of Waitangi settlement). Transfers can also be exempt based on the date the transfer was lodged or the contract was entered into. about their affiliation (unless the transfer relates to Māori land or a Treaty of Waitangi settlement). Transfers can also be exempt based on the date the transfer was lodged or the contract was entered into.

The quarter a transfer is counted in the statistics reflects the date registration of the transfer was completed (not the contract date, lodgement date, or settlement date).
Values are rounded to base 3. Low values of 3 or less have been confidentialised (omitted).

https://datainfoplus.stats.govt.nz/Item/nz.govt.stats/058d804d-329e-4bb1-9639-07a29fe5ca26/33

Property transfer statistics depend on the accuracy of land transfer tax statements submitted by buyers and sellers (and recorded in Landonline by conveyancers).
There are cases where the purchase of property by an overseas person will not be reflected in the statistics, for example:
- An overseas person could still be a New Zealand tax resident.
- A company could be owned or controlled by an overseas person.
- A resident visa holder is considered an overseas person under the Overseas Investment Act if they are not ordinarily resident.

Not all transfers involve a sale. Land Information New Zealand estimates that approximately half of all property transfers involve a residential sale. The other half includes a very wide range of activities such as deceased estates, trustee changes, marriage settlements, boundary changes, changes to the proportions of shares of ownership, as well as sales involving non-residential property.
Property transfer statistics do not include information about the value or selling price of properties.
The statistics do not include a breakdown by land type (eg residential or farm).

Property transfer statistics cover all transfers of specified estate in land (as defined in the Land Transfer Act 1952). This includes:
- freehold estates, including fee simple and life estates
- leasehold estates
- stratum estates (unit titles)
- licences to occupy (eg retirement village units)
- any other estate in land declared to be a specified estate in land by regulations made under the Act.

Some buyers and sellers are not required to submit a land transfer tax statement, or to complete all sections. These exemptions are defined in the Land Transfer Act 1952 and the Land Transfer (Land Information and Offshore Persons Information) Exemption Regulations 2015.
Buyers and sellers are not required to submit a statement if:
- the transfer relates to Māori land
- the transfer relates to land transferred as part of the Treaty of Waitangi settlements process
- the transfer was lodged before 1 October 2015
- the contract was entered into before 1 October 2015, provided the transfer was lodged by 1 April 2016.

Buyers and sellers who submit a statement may not be required to provide information about their tax residency if:
• they are New Zealand citizens or have resident visas who have been in New Zealand recently, and the transfer involves their main home
• they are a public or local authority
• the transfer is a mortgagee sale, a rating sale, a court-ordered sale, or a statute-ordered sale.
• the transfer involves a deceased person's estate.

Stats NZ will stop producing quarterly property transfer statistics. Property transfer statistics: June 2024 quarter is the final release in the series.

At URL provided, select 'Property transfer statistics: December quarter – CSV' from the Download data section.

Property transfer statistics summarise the citizenship or visa status and tax residency of buyers and sellers of homes and land in New Zealand.

Property transfer statistics are used to monitor the purchase of land and homes by overseas people, and inform housing policy.

Data about property transfers is collected by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and supplied directly to Stats NZ.
Data from land transfer tax statements is collected by LINZ, and supplied to Stats NZ by Inland Revenue.