Mike's Minute: Foreigners buying homes - we got there at last

We got there at last. 

If you are a Golden Visa holder, that’s a person who puts $5-10 million into the country, you can now buy a house. 

The idea that we expected you to put that sort of money into a country and then rent was, and is, absurd. 

Not to get into the weeds too deeply, but the Golden Visa is different to the 183 days rule. 

The Golden Visa means you can invest but not be here the 183 days. But it now means you do qualify for a $5m+ home. 

None of this is complex. None of this needed to be as hard as it has turned out to be. 

You will note from Winston Peter's comments yesterday he has preserved his ongoing dislike for so-called foreigners coming here and snapping up the countryside and locking the rest of us out of the market, none of which happened of course, but the xenophobic streak runs deep in that party. 

But if you go back to National's original idea of $2m, a lot of water has gone under the bridge. A lot of banging of heads has happened and some people have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to what I would've thought was a fairly obvious finish line. 

The weird thing for me about Peters is this is the same bloke who is out in the world pleading with said world to come and invest. He's saying come and do business, we are open. 

He is trying on one hand to desperately rectify the damage of the Labour Government Covid era, while at the same time doing the old New Zealand First "cake and eat it too" trick. "Please come, please bring your money but, oh, given you're a foreigner you can use Airbnb". It's nonsense. 

At $5m it changes little for you and me. It’s a tiny portion of homes. Its two million pounds and it's three million US dollars. For some global citizens it's pocket change. 

But it all helps, and man do we need help. 

The worry is the difficulty in getting here. Easy, obvious decisions should not be hard. They should be quick and slick. 

But we got there. It all helps. 

It was a good day for NZ Inc.   

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, we got there, it last died and't we. I mean,
if you're a Golden visa holder, that's a person who
puts five or ten million into the country, you can
buy a house. The idea that we expected you to
put that sort of money into a country but then
rent what was and is absurd. Not to get into
the weeds too deeply. The golden beza as different to
the one hundred and eighty three days rule the Golden
bees that means you can invest but not be here

(00:20):
for one hundred and eighty three days, but now means
you do qualify for a five million dollar plus home.
None of this is complex. None of this needed to
be as hard as it turned out to be. You
will note from the Winston Peters comments he has preserved
his ongoing dislike for the so called foreigners coming here
and snapping up the countryside and locking the rest of
us out of the market, none of which happened, of course,
But the xenophobic streak runs deep in the party clearly.

(00:43):
But if you go back to National's original idea of
two million dollars, a lot of water has gone under
that bridge, A lot of banging of heads has clearly happened,
and some people have had to be drag kicking and
screaming to what I would have thought was a fairly
obvious finish line. The weird thing for me about Peter's
is this is the same bloke who's out in the world,
please reading with said world to come and invest and
come and do business. We are open. Is trying on

(01:05):
one hand to desperately rectify the damage of the Labour
government covid era, while at the same time doing the
old New Zealand first cake and eat at two trick.
Please come, please bring your money. But oh, given you
a foreigner, can you Airbnb? I mean it's nonsense. At
five million it changes little or nothing for you and me.
It's a tiny portion of homes, it's a couple of
million pounds at three million American bucks. For some global

(01:26):
citizens it's pocket change. But it all helps a man,
do we need help? The worry is the difficulty in
getting here easy. Obvious decisions should not be hard, they
should be quick and slick. But it all helps. It
was a good day for New Zealand Inc. For more
from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to News Talk

(01:46):
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