Government figures which show foreigners bought five times as much precious New Zealand land last year are not an accurate guide to foreign ownership, Land Information Minister Mark Mitchell says. The OIO said 466,000 hectares of land was sold to offshore buyers in 2016 - five times more than the previous year. Net sales of New Zealand land had been consistent over the last decade, he said. Peters said today that there was no official record of New Zealand land and houses bought by foreigners, as there was in other countries. However, it is not considered a register of foreign ownership because it counts corporations and trusts as NZ residents.

Source: New Zealand Herald March 19, 2017 01:02 UTC