Nearly a third of New Zealand's most expensive residential listings — 29% — remain unavailable to buyers using the Active Investor Plus visa, according to new research from Bayleys Real Estate. The finding is fuelling calls to lower the scheme's $5 million entry threshold outside the country's priciest markets.

Under the Active Investor Plus (AIP) visa, commonly called the golden visa, overseas investors can buy New Zealand property valued at $5 million or above. But the property must not be classified as sensitive — waterfront land falls into this category — and must not exceed 5 hectares in size.

What does the Bayleys research show?

Bayleys reviewed 650 residential and lifestyle listings from June priced at $5 million or higher. The exclusions break down as follows:

• 20% sat on non-urban land larger than 5ha;
• 11% were in marine or coastal zones;
• 3% breached land-area limits on islands.

Some properties triggered more than one exclusion, producing the combined 29% figure of listings effectively locked out of the scheme.

How concentrated is demand?

Just 25 properties have been purchased through the scheme so far, most of them in Auckland and Queenstown-Lakes. Bayleys head of insights Chris Farhi says this concentration reflects a structural flaw in how the threshold is applied nationally.

"At the moment you've got a good amount of activity in Auckland and Queenstown," Farhi said. "Prices in those two markets are higher than other parts of New Zealand, and you've also got a pretty good selection of land that's not sensitive. But when you get into the other regions, not only are there fewer listings above $5m, but they are more likely to be deemed sensitive."

Immigration New Zealand's most recent figures show 730 Active Investor Plus visa applications as of May 2026, representing a $4.26 billion potential investment pipeline. US, Chinese and Hong Kong investors make up the largest applicant groups.

Which regions dominate the high-end market?

Of 463 listings above $5 million published this year, 324 were in Auckland and 78 in Otago. Only seven other regions recorded any $5 million-plus listings at all.

Farhi argues the threshold should stay at $5 million in Auckland and Otago but drop to $2 million or $3 million elsewhere. Without that change, he warns, "we are just going to see investors clustered in Auckland or Queenstown."

What do regional agents say?

Property Brokers managing director Guy Mordaunt said overseas interest in regional New Zealand exists, but $5 million properties are scarce outside the main centres.

"I'm in Palmy, and the record sale price here is $3.7 million," Mordaunt said, adding that in towns such as Taumarunui, Wairoa or Waimate, "you spend $1.5 million, and you've got a mansion with a pool and a tennis court."

He said vendors in the regions would welcome a lower threshold if it stimulated buyer activity.

Oliver Road managing director Cam Winter, who sells in the Bay of Plenty and Central Otago, was more cautious. A lower threshold "would be very tricky to decide, calculate and police," he said. But he welcomed a recent rule change exempting properties previously excluded on technical grounds — a shift he said would open additional listings, including in Queenstown's Bendemeer Estate, to golden visa buyers.

Will the investment pipeline hold?

Questions remain about the scheme's broader economic impact. A former minister has cautioned that much of the headline investment figures reported earlier this year remains uncommitted, warning the scheme's early billions could prove to be a "flash in the pan".

No change to the $5 million threshold has been announced. Investors weighing property purchases under the Active Investor Plus visa should refer to Immigration New Zealand's official guidance on eligibility criteria and sensitive-land classifications.