In Australia’s major cities, the Chinese have purchase properties quickly and surely over the years. Property prices in Sydney and Melbourne in particular have been on full steam for a good 5 years now, having risen 55 per cent since while mortgage rates have fallen. The buying continues despite a fall in the yuan following last year’s global financial market bedlam.
Photo: Apartment on Kent St., Sydney.
As property prices in top-tier Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai continues to inch up, more Chinese nationals are bringing their monies out of the country and looking for investment opportunities elsewhere on the globe. A 2-room apartment in Beijing sold for S$1.7million could more than comfortably fund a S$962,660, 688 sq m house just outside of Melbourne’s central business district. Most of the purchases made by Chinese Australian permanent residents are funded by relatives in China.
The Australian government has since clamped down on foreign investment as locals fear being priced out of the market. But Australian property analysts say that publicity around the issue of foreign-buying have made it seem bigger than is actually is. In fact, all the activity in the property market have helped to keep the property and construction industries busy and booming.
