Don't blame foreigners for booming coastal property prices

Of the country's 6000km of privately owned waterfront land, only 130km is in foreign hands, Land Information New Zealand records show.

Sales to overseas buyers through the Overseas Investment Commission (OIC) have also dropped significantly. In 2002 more than 7km of waterfront land was sold to foreigners but, in the 12 months to June this year, that fell to 2.4km.

The OIC approves all waterfront sales to foreigners if the land is over 0.2ha.

Bayleys waterfront specialist John Greenwood said overseas buyers had been unfairly getting the blame. "(It's a) myth . . . there simply aren't enough (foreigners) buying here in sufficient volume to have any significant impact on values," he told a coastal environment conference this month.

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