US President Donald Trump speaks to journalists aboard Air Force One. Photo: ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP
The number of Americans checking out homes for sale in New Zealand has surged since US President Donald Trump returned to office.
When comparing the period between Trump's inauguration on January 20 and Monday with the same period a year earlier, the amount of traffic from the United States to Realestate.co.nz was up 75.4 percent.
Virginia was the state providing the most traffic, up 77.6 percent. California was next, with an 87 percent increase year-on-year. Colorado had the biggest increase, up 500 percent.
Auckland and Canterbury were the most common areas looked at by Americans.
Realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood said there was also an increase during the Covid lockdowns.
"There were Americans - we had one who did some work for us - who had NZ residency when they lived here a long time ago, so they moved out and rented with family during the Covid period and once it was over, moved back. There will be examples of that. How widespread they are is hard to tell."
She said there would be Americans looking at their options, but whether it turned into action would not be seen until there was migration data to support it.
"It's interesting to see that trend and not surprising. New Zealand is a really lovely place to live. We do get people looking from America all the time."
BNZ chief economist Mike Jones said there was increased "chatter" about the possibility of people moving from the US to New Zealand.
"I think if we did see an increased number of arrivals it would be less likely to put pressure on the housing market relative to, say, the Trump 1.0 period. We still see the housing market as marginally oversupplied overall, with strong listings and elevated inventory levels.
"So there's probably some room to accommodate extra demand without unduly pressuring house prices."
Ed McKnight, economist at Opes Partners, said it might not be easy for people to move.
"First they need to become resident in New Zealand and become ordinarily resident. Only then can they buy a house to live in.
"And while it's very easy for Americans to search online, practically very few will actually move across the world to escape a politician."
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