The Chinese army of home buyers in Australia is no longer available (Domain photo)
As China`s annual National Day Golden week holiday has arrived, Australian luxury agents are looking forward to heralding the return of overseas buyers.
According to Domain, thanks to Australia`s first hundreds of millions of luxury property deals last week, good quality property inquiries and a sharp fall of 11 percent to 71 cents against the US dollar from its January peak, the Australian dollar fell 11 percent to 71 cents, among other factors. Australian luxury home agents are eager for the return of overseas buyers.
At the same time, there is also a shadow over the market, including an increase in stamp duty on home ownership by overseas buyers, which began last year. China`s government does not encourage overseas property investment and the number of investment visas granted to overseas investors by Australian authorities.
Curtis (Darren Curtis), a real estate agent at Christie`s International property firm (Christie`s International), said: "it will be up to this week for Chinese buyers to return to the Australian market. This is one of the climax of the year, another climax is the Chinese Lunar New year. "
Five years ago, the golden week of China`s National Day, the Australian luxury market took a dramatic turn. At that time, overseas buyers were taken by car all the way to explore luxury homes. Xu Jiayin, a Chinese tycoon, bought Villa del Mare., a (Point Piper) mansion in Pepper Point, Sydney, from recruitment giant Henros (Julia Ross) for A $39 million. Six months later, however, the then Treasury secretary, Mr (Joe Hockey), said the deal violated overseas home-buying regulations and ordered Mr Xu to sell the mansion on a limited-time basis.
The number of fast-track investment visas issued to overseas buyers declined significantly in the last fiscal year, according to the Home Office. In the 12 months to June 30, Australian authorities approved only 183 investment visas, down from 405 a year earlier.
The enthusiasm of Chinese buyers has gradually dissipated over the past three National Day golden weeks, said Luo Xuexin, chief executive of Juwai.com, (Carrie Law). Of course, there will be some deals in the Australian market, but it`s not as intense as it was a few years ago.
