A net 5% of people are planning to invest in residential property according to economist Tony Alexander's latest survey, down from a net 11% last month, and 13% in December.
The former BNZ economist said the findings "supports a view that reintroduction of the 40% minimum deposit requirement for new investor borrowers is curtailing some property demand".
Alexander's findings come as part of his Spending Plans Survey, released each month.
They coincide with the reintroduction of LVR rules by the Reserve Bank.
LVR rules are being phased in.
As of March, investors need a 30% deposit to buy an existing property.
But from May 1, investors will need a 40% deposit, with banks limited to providing 5% of their book to high LVR investors.
The RBNZ wants banks to impose 40% deposit limits "immediately".
Alexander said the reintroduction of LVR rules was "starting to skew the residential property market towards owner-occupiers. But these are very early days yet and it would not be possible on the basis of these results [or those in Alexander's two other recent surveys] to conclude that the housing markets around New Zealand are going to flatten out substantially in the near future.
"There is merely evidence of some frenzy washing away," he added.
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