In the 1980s it was the Japanese who were ferociously buying up American real estate. Many iconic buildings in the states such as New York’s Rockefeller Centre fell into Japanese ownership. California was the most popular destination for Japanese money and it was said that downtown Los Angeles was largely owned by Japan. According to The LA Times archive Japanese investors poured US$16.54 billion into American real estate in 1988, the peak year for investment. In the 1990s Japan’s level of investment fell off dramatically and remains fairly low today. It is the Chinese who are now looking to American real estate to invest in. With an over-priced and volatile property market in China and…

Now the election is over and National was returned to government the threat of a capital gains tax for investors might seem like it is over. Labour campaigned hard that they would introduce a capital gains tax, but National rejected the concept. However there are schools of thought that the tax might have a place for sectors of the New Zealand property market. Peter Thompson, Barfoot & Thompson managing director, told the New Zealand Herald that if there was to be any policy put in place from the new Government to discourage overseas investors, a capital gains tax (CGT) might work. "We do need to protect our land and we do that already via the Overseas Investment Office and that's …

Americans got an early Christmas present last week when the US Commerce Department announced that GDP grew at an annual rate of 4.6 per cent in the second quarter of the year, against a predicted 4 per cent. August also saw new home sales rise to a six year high. On to of that the Wall Street Journal reported that economic growth was predicted to be 3 per cent for the third quarter of the year. If that proves to be correct, with three of the last four quarters experiencing growth, it would be the strongest stretch of economic growth since 2004/2005. The Department of Commerce said the GDP growth was due to higher exports and businesses spending more. Exports rose 11.1 per cent for the p…