Three percent of properties sold in the last three months went to people with a foreign tax residency, but that doesn't mean the number of foreign buyers is that low.

Anyone using a New Zealand registered trust to buy and sell properties will be counted as a New Zealand tax resident.

Land Information deputy chief executive Russell Turner said the information is purely designed to catch tax, not keep a tally of who is buying what.

He said that while property transfers rose by more than 12,000 in the most recent quarter, there was a similar split between foreign and New Zealand residents to the previous quarter.

"This includes trusts businesses as well as individuals," he said.

The data has been collected since October, and Mr Turner said a clear picture would develop once a year's data had been collected.

He said people shouldn't refer to or treat the information as a foreign buyers' register, as that is not what it is.

Overseas residents bought 1749 out of the 57,678 homes sold in New Zealand between April and June, newly-released data shows.

That amounts to 3 per cent of total sales over the three-month period - similar levels to the previous quarter.

In Auckland, 900 homes, or 5 per cent of total sales, went to non-residents. That is a 1 point increase on the January to March quarter.

Chinese tax residents bought 495 of those homes, much more than any other group. 

Overall, 60 per cent of house transfers involved buyers who had only New Zealand tax residency.

Another 37 per cent involved buyers who did not need to provide tax information - mainly New Zealanders who were buying their main home.

The data has been collected since October, and Mr Turner said a clear picture would develop once a year's data had been collected.

The newest data also showed that non-residents were also responsible for 3 per cent of the houses sold in New Zealand between April and June.

That figure is one point higher than the previous period.