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Summarised by Centrist
New Zealand has effectively reopened its high-end housing market to wealthy foreign buyers, reversing its 2018 restrictions through changes to the Active Investor Plus visa that took effect in April 2025.
Under the revised policy, foreigners who invest about $2.9 million can “immediately buy a house, as long as it costs over $2.9 million, without needing to become a tax resident.” The visa grants “indefinite permanent residence for life” and requires the main applicant to spend just 21 days in the country over a three-year investment term, down from 117 days previously.
Americans account for “around 40% of the total 573 applications” under the new visa since it took effect in April 2025. Between 2018 and 2025, the number of US citizens approved as New Zealand residents rose 37%, according to government data cited in the report.
The policy shift distinguishes New Zealand from Australia, which in 2025 enacted “a two-year ban on foreigners buying existing houses.”
Government ministers have framed the changes as a way to attract capital and expertise. At a January dinner attended by American tech investors, outgoing Attorney-General Judith Collins said: “We are a little bit short of capital, which is why we love our American friends.” Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said, “The calibre of the Americans applying has been absolutely outstanding.”
The Wall Street Journal reports growing interest from venture capitalists and entrepreneurs drawn by “lifestyle, political stability and safety.” One investor said that in the US he was “a tiny minnow in a huge ocean,” but in New Zealand “a medium fish in a small pond.”
