Observers fear New Zealand’s historic openness to foreign investors could be a thing of the past under new prime minister Jacinda Ardern, with property speculation coming under increased scrutiny. Lucia Dore reports.

The International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF) held its Eighth Annual Conference in Auckland, New Zealand in early November, which addressed issues of how sovereign wealth funds SWFs could ensure sufficiently high returns in a low-growth, low-interest rate environment and how climate change initiatives would impact investment opportunities. 

The question of how much foreign investment is too much is a hot topic in New Zealand. On one side of the argument proponents of FDI believe it is responsible for the country's higher-than-average economic growth, but on the other, patriotic New Zealanders believe that the level of foreign ownership, particularly of land, has reached a tipping point.

The economic crisis of 2008 and beyond made its presence felt across the property markets of the Gulf Co-operation Council, with some countries affected worse than others. Among the hardest hit was Dubai, but the emirate is showing strong signs of recovery.