She says however it will mainly hit residential and lifestyle land.
“If overseas buyers are comfortable with meeting the new levels of benefits in the tests, hopefully there will not be too much impact,” she told Rural News.
“High country stations and lifestyle properties are likely to suffer the biggest price impacts. It will be more difficult to show benefits on those properties. The bill is currently going through the select committee process,” Lefever says.
“Lifestyle properties obviously fall into that rural space as well. They will now have to be considered under the amendment bill.”
Some rural land with residential features, e.g. a farm homestead, would need a separate certificate of title.
“That might need consideration under the new bill. Rural land acquired for residential development will also need to be concerned with reference to the bill and also there are changes this bill brings in to forestry.”
Lefever says while the door has not closed on overseas investment in the rural sector – there is still uncertainty. However, she now believes that some market positivity is returning as the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) has started to release decisions under new ministerial directives.
