Oamaru's property market has received national attention over the past several days as media outlets have picked up on the town's inclusion in a Chinese property website top 10 list.
Fairfax reported the town was "a surprise entry on Chinese property website Juwai's list of the 10 most viewed locations in New Zealand''.
And Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher appeared on TV3 morning show, The AM Show, to address Oamaru becoming "hot property for overseas buyers''.
In 2016, Oamaru was the fourth-most-viewed location in the country on Juwai - jumping two places last year, from sixth place in 2015.
But Juwai chief executive Charles Pittar described Oamaru as a "distant'' fourth.
"The share of inquiries it receives is very low, in comparison to the other destinations on the list. Auckland accounts for more than half of all inquiries, and the number of inquiries received by each subsequent destination drops off very rapidly.''
The company cited commercial sensitivity and did not disclose the exact number of views Oamaru had received, but Mr Pittar said he would not discount the effect tourism had on Chinese interest in property markets.
"We often see a direct link between Chinese tourism and property interest in the same areas. That could be one reason why Oamaru is in the top five.
"After seeing the penguin colony, they go home and check out our website for property in the place they loved so much when they were on holiday.''
Figures released by Tourism Waitaki last month show a steady increase in visitors to the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony over Chinese New Year for the last several years.
Although the numbers do not identify the ethnicity of the visitors, this year 4203 people visited the colony over the Chinese New Year period, an increase from 3596 last year and 3278 in 2015.
Former Waitaki mayor Alan McLay, now an agent with Ray White, said there was a "spectacular difference'' in foreign buyer interest in Oamaru.
Mr McLay said he had had buyers from Australia, China, Vietnam and South Korea and in the past nine months there had been a "15% increase on rateable value''.
Mr Kircher told The AM Show host Duncan Garner yesterday morning he was pleased "other people are seeing what we've seen [in Oamaru] for so long''.
He said he believed history, "interesting people'', economic growth and "great lifestyle'' were driving the interest.
Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown topped the Chinese international property website's list again this year.
Dunedin and Nelson fell out of the top 10, while Clyde and Kerikeri entered the list.
Mr Pittar said the top 10 rankings on the list often changed "because the inquiry levels drop off so quickly as you move down the list''.
He said Juwai users were not just offshore investors but also individuals of Chinese descent who live in or intend to emigrate to New Zealand.
