Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) has released a report on Property transfers and tax residency, 1 April 2017 to 30 June 2017.

During the period there were 48,603 property transfered registered with LINZ.

The report shows that 3% (1515) of all property transfers during the period involved overseas tax resident buyers and 3% involved tax resident sellers. LINZ says the same proportions were recorded in the January to March 2017 quarter.

Of the 3% where at least one of the property buyers provided an overseas tax residency, 414 were tax residents of China, 348 were tax residents of Australia, 240 were of mixed tax residency, 84 were tax residents of the United Kingdom, 84 were tax residents of the United States, 66 were tax residents of Hong Kong, and 279 were tax residents of 49 other countries.

Of the remaining transfers over the April-June period, 57% involved buyers with only New Zealand tax residency, unchanged from January to March, and 40% involved buyers who do not need to provide tax information. LINZ says the majority of these were New Zealand citizens or residents who are buying their main home - the same as in January to March.

LINZ notes that tax residency is not the same as nationality: "You can live in New Zealand and also have tax residency in another country. Alternatively, you could be an overseas citizen and have only New Zealand tax residency."