The latest 1News Verian poll shows more Kiwis oppose National's foreign buyers plan than support it.
Currently, non-citizens are not allowed to buy residential property in New Zealand after the Labour-led government introduced a ban on foreign buyers.
National has argued the ban should be lifted, and instead, foreign buyers would pay a 15% tax on house purchases over $2 million.
The poll asked about 1002 eligible voters: "Do you support or oppose foreigners being allowed to buy existing homes in New Zealand that are worth more than $2 million?"
Of those polled, 39% supported National's plan while 46% opposed it. The rest didn't know or preferred not to say.
The latest 1News Verian poll showed 46% opposed the plan, while 39% supported it. (Source: 1News)
The groups more likely to support the policy include National Party supporters (60%), people with a household income of $150,000 or more (54%) and men (45%).
The groups more likely to oppose the plan include Māori (63%), Green Party supporters (60%), Labour Party supporters (58%) and people with a household income of $30,001 to $70,000 (54%).
It comes despite National leader Christopher Luxon insisting the party are "absolutely confident" in the plan.
He's said the numbers behind it are "rock solid", despite critics claiming they don't add up.
Q+A host Jack Tame challenged Luxon over the weekend: "How exactly will you sell $20 billion worth of property over four years?"
The National leader was challenged on the credibility of his party's policies. (Source: 1News)
National have said the tax would raise an average of $740m a year.
Luxon responded: "I'm not debating your numbers. I'm saying to you very clearly that we're going to make sure we deliver working New Zealanders income tax relief."
When pushed whether he would release the underlying modelling behind National's calculations, Luxon said: "We've already released the information we're going to release."
House price fears
Some critics have expressed concern the plan could see house prices rise amid competition from overseas.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Glyn Lewers said housing in the city is "tight" already.
And he's a "little bit concerned" about the $2 million threshold, with houses in Queenstown selling for an average of $1.7 million.
"So at $2 million, I thinks he's probably a little too close," Lewers said. "The $3 million ceiling would probably be a little bit better.
"Just for Queenstown. But like I said, Queenstown's one of those different places, it's completely different to outside of the rest of NZ.
"Normal metrics don't usually match well with this district."
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