AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Property values are soaring in Auckland, New Zealand, a city of 1.4 million people on a remote island straddling the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

A citywide housing shortage, coupled with inward migration by New Zealanders who previously lived abroad, is the primary driver of residential demand in the city, which is New Zealand’s commercial capital, analysts said. Foreign buyers, particularly from China and other Asian countries, are also playing a growing, if still minor, role in the market.

Auckland’s beaches, clean air and environmentally friendly image are clear selling points for foreign property investors, analysts said. And New Zealand’s property investment laws — which do not include a stamp duty or a capital gains tax — are seen as more welcoming than those of Singapore, Hong Kong and other global investment hubs.

“Offshore investors are having an effect” at all levels of the residential market, said Layne Harwood, country head for New Zealand at the global property consulting firm Knight Frank. “They’re here for security of capital.”