Offshore investors are not just buying houses. They are buying shares.
Brokers Forsyth Barr says that foreign investors currently own 46 percent of the shares in New Zealand's 50 biggest actively traded companies.
That is 11 percent higher than the 10-year average.
Offshore investors are being attracted by solid returns and dividend payments of around six percent annually.
Some shares are off limits to offshore investors because they are owned by "strategic" investors. One example is the government's majority stake in Air New Zealand and several power companies.
If you include those shares JBWere estimates that foreign investors still own around a third of the local market.
