New Zealand will ban overseas buyers from buying existing homes in the country in a bid to stop house prices from soaring.
Labour prime minister-elect Jacinda Ardern said the ban, only applicable to non-residents, will be introduced by Christmas.
It comes as increasingly unaffordable house prices have priced many locals out of the domestic property market.
Foreign ownership, as well as a limited supply of homes and low interest rates have driven house prices higher in New Zealand – a similar scenario to the UK’s.
That and curbs to immigration, the renegotiation of trade deals and adjustments to the role of the central bank are among the policies that are being pushed forward by the new Labour government.
Property boom: Auckland, the largest city in the country, has
New Zealand has seen some of the fastest growth in house prices in the world in recent years, however price growth has started to moderate over the last year.
Ban: New Zealand’s Labour prime minister-elect Jacinda Ardern
House prices in New Zealand rose by 4.6 per cent to NZ$646,378 (about £335,400) in the year to September – down from 14 per cent in September 2016, according to the country’s QV house price index.
Auckland, the largest city in the country, has seen an extraordinary property boom in recent years. Chinese investors have been among the biggest buyers of property in Auckland.
But prices in the city rose by just 0.8 per cent annually, to NZ$1,039,066 (£539,112). That compares to annual growth of 15 per cent in September last year.
Prices in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, rose by 9.6 per cent to $606,322 (£314,586) in the year to September, down from growth of over 20 per cent in September 2016.