Mark HarrisThe early foreign birds are circling the Southern Lakes to catch the rare golden worms. Wealthy Americans are among the ultra-rich buyers arriving in private jets and zeroing in on Queenstown’s priciest properties as new foreign house-buyer rules come into force. While, anecdotally, there is no shortage of high net-worth individuals looking to take advantage of the ‘‘golden visa’’, satisfying the demand may prove the challenge. Queenstown Lakes District Council records, as at September, showed 1273 dwellings, or about 5% of the district’s almost 24,000 properties, had a valuation for rating purposes at that level. But Bayleys Queenstown chief executive Stacy Coburn said there might be even fewer properties than that open to foreign purchase.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 06, 2026 22:46 UTC