Property transfer statistics data collection

Data sources Data about property transfers is collected by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and supplied directly to Stats NZ. Data from land transfer tax statements is collected by LINZ, and supplied to Stats NZ by Inland Revenue. We combine these data sources to produce the statistics. Coverage Property transfer statistics cover all transfers of specified estate in land (as defined in the Land Transfer Act 2017). This includes: freehold estates, including fee simple and life estates leasehold estates stratum estates (unit titles) licences to occupy (eg retirement village units) any other estate in land declared to be a specified estate in land by regulations made under the Act. Not all transfers involve a sale. For simplicity, we refer to the transferees and transferors as buyers and sellers (respectively). Land Information New Zealand estimates that approximately half of all property transfers involve a residential sale. The other half includes a very wide range of activities such as deceased estates, trustee changes, marriage settlements, boundary changes, changes to the proportions of shares of ownership, as well as sales involving non-residential property. Land transfer tax statements Most buyers and sellers of specified estate in land are required to complete a land transfer tax statement. It collects information about their affiliation, tax residency, intent to live on the land, and whether a home is involved. A transfer can involve multiple buyers and sellers. Each buyer and seller is required to complete a separate statement. The certifier of the transfer (eg conveyancer) is required to keep the statements, and enter the information into Landonline. Exemptions Some buyers and sellers are not required to submit a land transfer tax statement, or to complete all sections. These exemptions are defined in the Land Transfer Act 2017 and the Land Transfer (Land Information and Offshore Persons Information) Exemption Regulations 2015. Prior to 1 January 2020, many NZ citizens and resident-visa holders were exempt from stating their tax residency when entering into a transfer of their main home. The transitional period for the main home 'non-notifiable' reason ended on 1 July 2020. Almost all home buyers in the September 2020 quarter stated their tax residency, reflected in the high proportion of buyers with only New Zealand tax residency. Buyers and sellers are not required to submit a statement if: the transfer relates to Māori land the transfer relates to land transferred as part of the Treaty of Waitangi settlements process the transfer was lodged before 1 October 2015 the contract was entered into before 1 October 2015, provided the transfer was lodged by 1 April 2016. Buyers and sellers who submit a statement may not be required to provide information about their tax residency if: they are New Zealand citizens or resident-visa holders who have been in New Zealand recently, the transfer involves their main home, and the transfer was entered into before 1 January 2020 they are a public or local authority the transfer is a mortgagee sale, a rating sale, a court-ordered sale, or a statute-ordered sale the transfer involves a deceased person's estate. Property type Our property transfer statistics are broken down into: Home involved No home involved Property type unknown All property. We count a transfer as "Home involved" if at least one buyer and one seller said the transfer includes land that has a home on it. Otherwise, we count the transfer as "No home involved" if at least one buyer and one seller said the transfer does not include land that has a home on it. Otherwise, we count the transfer as "Property type unknown". For example, a transfer could be counted as "Property type unknown" when: the buyers say there is a home on the land but the sellers say there isn't (perhaps because the buyers intend to build a home) the sellers say there is a home on the land but the buyers say there isn't none of the buyers completed a land transfer tax statement none of the sellers completed a land transfer tax statement. All our property transfer statistics are broken down into "Home involved" and "All property". Only some of the statistics are broken down into "No home involved" and "Property type unknown". Affiliation Affiliation statistics summarise the New Zealand citizenship or visa status of buyers and sellers of property. Each transfer is categorised twice (once to summarise the buyers and once to summarise the sellers). The categories are: At least one NZ citizen At least one NZ resident visa (but no citizens) No NZ citizens or resident visas Corporate only Affiliation unknown. We report the number of transfers that fall into each category. We also report this number as a percentage of the total number of transfers for which the affiliation of at least one party is known. "Corporate only" excludes trusts. This is because each trustee is required to submit a land transfer tax statement, so the affiliation (and tax residency) is known for each trustee. Supplementary statistics for "No NZ citizens or resident visas" are further broken down into: At least one student or work visa No student or work visas. These supplementary statistics provide information about the affiliation of buyers' and sellers' immediate family: NZ citizen in family NZ resident visa in family (but no citizens) NZ student or work visa in family (but no citizens or resident visas) No citizens or resident, student, or work visas in family. For buyers, "At least one student or work visa" is further broken down based on whether the buyers or their immediate family intend living on the land. The categories are: Intent to occupy No intent to occupy. Detailed affiliation information began to be collected on 12 December 2016, but didn't reach near-100 percent coverage until the September 2017 quarter. Affiliation was unknown for a large number of buyers and sellers in the December 2016 and March 2017 quarters. Affiliation statistics for these quarters should be used with caution. Tax residency Tax residency statistics show how many transfers involved buyers and sellers of property stated an overseas tax residence. Each transfer is categorised twice (once to summarise the buyers and once to summarise the sellers). The categories are: Only NZ tax residents Mixture of NZ tax residents and non-residents Only NZ tax non-residents All parties exempt from stating tax residency No tax statement due to contract date. We report the number of transfers that fall into each category. We also report this number as a percentage of the total number of transfers (excluding transfers where there was no tax statement due to the contract date). 'Only NZ tax residents' means no parties stated an overseas tax residence. However, it can include cases where some parties had an overseas tax residence but were exempt from providing tax details. 'Only NZ tax non-residents' means all non-exempt parties stated an overseas tax residence. However, it can include cases where some parties had no overseas tax residence but were exempt from providing tax details. 'No tax statement due to contract date' covers transfers lodged before 1 October 2015, and transfers where all parties claimed an exemption because the contract was entered into before 1 October 2015, even though registration was completed later. 'All parties exempt from stating tax residency' includes all other transfers where all the buyers or all the sellers claimed an exemption (for reasons outlined above in the section Exemptions). Occasionally a transfer may lack land transfer tax statements for an unknown reason. Such transfers are counted in this category. Tax residency information began to be collected on 1 October 2015, but didn't reach near-100 percent coverage until the June 2016 quarter because of the contract date exemption. A large number of buyers and sellers claimed the contract date exemption in the December 2015 and March 2016 quarters. Statistics for these quarters should be used with caution. The number of buyers and sellers stating an overseas tax residence may increase starting in the March 2020 quarter due to the removal of the main home exemption from providing tax details. Tax residency by country Tax residency by country is a more detailed breakdown of the tax residency statistics. We produce separate statistics for buyers and sellers. The statistics are broken down using the New Zealand Standard Classification of Countries (NZSCC). The number of buyers and sellers stating an overseas tax residence may increase starting in the March 2020 quarter due to the removal of the main home exemption from providing tax details. Sometimes, a buyer or seller may report a tax residence that is not included in the NZSCC. We count such transfers under the most appropriate country in the NZSCC. For example: Finland includes the Åland Islands. The statistics for each country are further broken down into: Only this tax residence Mixed including NZ tax residency Mixed excluding NZ tax residency Total. 'Only this tax residence' means all non-exempt parties stated the same tax residence. 'Mixed including NZ tax residency' means at least one party stated an overseas tax residence, but at least one other non-exempt party stated no overseas tax residences. 'Mixed excluding NZ tax residency' means at least two different overseas tax residences were stated. Geographic breakdowns The main affiliation and tax residency statistics are broken down by territorial authority, regional council, and Auckland local board areas (as used in the 2018 Census). Tax residency by country statistics are reported for Auckland, but not for other territorial authority or regional council areas. Suppression and random rounding To protect confidentiality: Counts below 6 are suppressed. Counts that are not a multiple of 3 are random rounded to either the nearest or second-nearest multiple of 3. Percentages are calculated from the random rounded counts, and rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, individual figures may not add up to totals. Revisions Our property transfer statistics are revised each quarter if improved information becomes available (ie when buyers or sellers lodge an amended land transfer tax statement). To ensure the statistics you use include these revisions, please always refer to Infoshare or the release for the most recent quarter on our website. en-NZ