By Lucy Craymer and Christine Chen

WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand will allow some wealthy overseas-based investors with an investor residence visa to buy or build a house as long as it is worth at least NZ$5 million ($2.94 million), Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Monday.

In April, the New Zealand government relaxed rules for the foreign investor migrant visa. This included lowering the minimum required funds for the category that focuses on higher-risk investments to NZ$5 million from NZ$15 million, and removing the English language requirement.

However, those on the visa, who were not in New Zealand for six months a year, were still unable to buy property.

Luxon said in a statement that the government would make changes to allow those on the visa to buy or build one home.

See Full Page