When the going gets rough, nowhere feels as calm, collected, quiet, or safe as New Zealand. It’s been almost a decade since reports of billionaires building doomsday bunkers in the country went viral, followed by a government ban on foreign property ownership that held firm until recently. In late August, the New Zealand government announced that golden visa holders were permitted to buy residential property worth $3 million (NZ $5 million) or more.
Golden visas are also easier to come by: as of April, applicants qualify after spending as few as 21 days in the country—provided they can make a $3 million investment over three years in “managed funds and direct business investments.”
These aren’t the only reasons Americans have renewed excitement about this antipodal safe haven. Improved connectivity (ie. direct flights from NYC to Auckland), along with its geographical isolation and distinctive landscapes, mean that New Zealand is once again the stable “Plan B” for many well-heeled Americans.
“We’re a small little country, but we jam pack it with a fantastic diversity of experiences and landscapes,” says Mischa Mannix-Opie, director of client experience at Greener Pastures, a firm that specializes in connecting investors with golden visas. They offer familiarization tours for those thinking about making a more permanent plunge, connecting clients with top villas, schools, professional services (think domestic staff), and the local business community to give them a taste of New Zealand living.
Popular cities and regions for their try-before-they-buy customers are Auckland, Queenstown, Christchurch/Canterbury—where you can “ski in the morning and surf in the afternoon,” she says—and Hawke’s Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. Yet perhaps no other area has become quite as attractive for the American stealth-wealth set as Te Arai and its eponymous golf links, which since arriving in 2022 has disrupted what had become a predictable and decades-old luxury lodge circuit.
A room with a view: the Ocean Cottage at Te Arai.
Jono Parker
To the north of Auckland on a pristine stretch of coast, Te Arai would be a 75-minute drive from the airport—except few drive it. One after another, helicopters land and take off again, dropping off American CEOs and their mashie-niblicks. To avoid competition for charters, many have invested in personal ‘copters for the regular trip, says Jim Rohrstaff of Legacy Partners, which developed Te Arai Links.
“If I talk to somebody in the States that’s going to come down here, I can tell them what their itinerary is going to be and it’s probably 80 percent accurate,” says Rohrstaff, who is also responsible for the nearby Tara Iti, a cultish, ultra-exclusive golf club limited to just 300 members; both are the creations of Los Angeles–based private equity billionaire Ric Kayne. “They are going to Corey Cliffs, or Cape Kidnappers. They might go to Huka Lodge. They might go down to Blanket Bay, or Matakari down in Queenstown. It’s kind of the path that they all go—and those are big spending trips. They come down for 10 to 14 days, and they spend hard. We’ve definitely shaken that up.”
The success of the links was almost immediate—a testament to the power golf still wields over the luxury travel market, and the depth of the well of demand. The project started with a golf course by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw that opened in late 2022, followed by real estate. Plots overlooking the course and looking down across the dunes to the sea cost millions—roughly $5 million in the local currency to get a home off the ground. They sold out.
A second course by Tom Doak opened in 2023; both are now ranked among the world’s top 100 golf courses. With it came infrastructure: club houses, two restaurants, cottages, suites, and villas—a sellout can now handle 110 people. Its 2-acre putting green is the largest in the world. Polo shirts fill the lobby as travelers check in for long weekends of golf, tennis, pickleball, beach swims, fine dining, and horseback rides. By mid-November, a spa, wellness facilities, and a gym will arrive.
“People are becoming aware of us, the reputation is growing,” says Rohrstaff, who aims to give guests the rural majesty of teeing off in Scotland but with “damn good weather.” “Bookings for the summer are way up, and up significantly from last year—and last year was a good year.”
Proof of concept established, Rohrstaff is now in the midst of building a sister retreat: an ultra-high-end residential community in Queenstown, another town that echoes with American accents.
“New Zealand has been continually growing in people’s minds as a great place to have property, if they can, and as a destination. I think most recently the amount of inquiries have ramped up probably because of the divisiveness of the political climate in the U.S.,” he says. “I think we’re going to see the hospitality business continue to expand at a pretty massive clip.”
Authors
Christopher Cameron
Christopher Cameron is Robb Report’s digital travel editor. He currently splits his time between New York and Melbourne. He has been a staffer at the New York Post (where he led the real estate…
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