Have you fancied owning not just your own house but an entire island or a village? Well, now you can because people are running away to the cities in New Zealand. The village of Lake Waitaki in New Zealand has been deserted completely as people move to the city life. The village was built in the 1930s as an accommodation for the dam labourers. But as people move out, it lies unattended since 1989. New Zealand Bars Foreigners Buying Homes: Chinese Blocked But Singaporeans Still Allowed. 

The village has good sceneries to offer, with mountain views and good waterfront of the Waitaki dam. There are about three-bedroom houses, restaurant, water rights and a total of 14 hectares of land. The cost of for all of this is $2.8m. As New Zealand change for urbanisations, small communities struggled to survive. And as there were more and more job opportunities towards the cities, people rushed for a better lifestyle, leaving Waitaki deserted. Spider Explosion in Greek Town of Aitoliko Has Coated Everything in a 1,000-Foot Web (Watch Video).

Originally the village had about 40 workers and their families and was a very active place with 1,200 workers labouring for the dam. Meanwhile, the government has launched campaigns to facilitate regional development. They have put in almost billions of dollars to get back the people who went to the cities. In the year 1991, the village was already sold to a private buyer. Now the government has imposed a ban on foreign buyers so only domestic buyers can take interest in the land. The village has been thriving since the 1970s. But the price of the land doesn't really impress the locals. But foreign buyers have been intervening through New Zealand intermediaries including some Chinese intermediaries.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 29, 2018 12:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).