The Foreign Minister says major changes around banning foreign buyers will come before Christmas

National campaigned pre-election on scrapping the ban - replacing it with a threshold allowing property to be sold to an overseas buyer - above a certain price.

The policy was canned after opposition from Winston Peters, who now seems to be having second thoughts.

He says the ban will remain, but he's talking about exempting investors who bring billions of dollars into the economy - with a scheme in place by the end of 2025.