Foreigners pile back into Austrailian property
Australia's 'spring-selling' real estate season is seeing a defiant return of Chinese buyers, undaunted by lending restrictions aimed at curbing their interest in the country's sky-rocketing housing market. Financiers and estate agents say Asian investors have found new avenues to re-enter the market, including targeting cheaper homes and settling in cash. Others are turning to groups of wealthy individuals or foreign-owned banks for loans, after Australian banks turned off funding to overseas buyers this year. "We're now seeing people even from mid-tier Chinese cities such as Chengdu or Shenzhen coming in to Australia and buying," David Chatterjee, director of Melbourne-based Lucror Property told. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has expressed concern that a booming apartment sector could be a key risk to financial stability with interest rates now at record lows. Australian banks tightened funding to foreigners earlier this year, citing higher credit risks, causing offshore demand to almost dry up.
Tags : INTERNATIONAL