It’s a common refrain for inhabitants of the northern hemisphere fed up with their own countries and longing for escape: “That’s it, I’m moving to New Zealand.” But the Covid-19 pandemic and strict rules about who can buy property there would currently prevent most hopefuls from doing so – unless they have $11.6m and fancy becoming the sheriff of a wild west replica “town”.
Mellonsfolly Ranch is a meticulous reproduction of an 1860s Wyoming frontier town – established 2006 – that’s even off the radar of most locals.
“We’ve even had comments the past couple of weeks from people who live 20, 30, 40 minutes down the road and weren’t even aware of it,” said Glen Jones, a spokesman for New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty, which is selling the 360-hectare property.
The 10-building old west-style “main street” is a curious sight in a rugged part of the North Island’s Central Plateau, better known for its snow-capped peaks, native bush and ski slopes.
But the new owner of the replica “town” – which features a saloon, courthouse, billiards lounge, sheriff’s office, and accommodation for 22 people – might not only be drawn by a love of western movies: purchasing the property would allow a new owner from abroad to circumvent a ban on foreigners buying existing homes in the country.
That’s because it is also a business – it is rented out for accommodation and functions, and features a 450-hive manuka honey business – and constitutes more than a $10m investment in New Zealand.
The property is owned by a local car parts manufacturer, who bought it in 2012 from a friend in a handshake deal.
Interest in the property had mostly derived from the United States and Hong Kong, Jones said, at a time when New Zealand has made global headlines for the government’s control of the Covid-19 pandemic on its shores. All current cases of the coronavirus are contained in border quarantine facilities and there is no community transmission.
That makes it impossible for foreigners to view the property in person. Due to strict border controls, only New Zealanders, their families, and certain essential workers are allowed to enter the country.
The refrain that one is “moving to New Zealand” has become a common trope after Brexit. After Donald Trump’s election to United States president in 2016, US migration enquiries increased 24-fold.
James Comey, Richard Dawkins and Billy Crystal have all expressed a wish to migrate to the south Pacific nation. It is a popular bolthole for cashed-up tech billionaires of Silicon Valley; Peter Thiel, the Paypal founder, was famously granted citizenship after spending just 12 days there.
But New Zealand’s government, led by Jacinda Ardern, in 2018 banned foreigners from buying existing homes in the country – with exemptions for Australians and Singaporeans only, due to free trade agreements – in an attempt to tackle a housing affordability crisis.
Jones, from Sothebys, said the price tag for the ranch would qualify the buyer to seek an “Investor 1” visa, which allows residency to people who invest $10m (NZ) or more in the country – and to circumvent the foreign buyer ban.
Rob Bartley, the owner, declined an interview with the Guardian.