Tighter regulations to ruffle Chinese property buyers’ feathers this Lunar New Year
Whilst recent events in the USA have bumped Australia from No 2 to No 1 preferred destination for the purchase of overseas property by mainland Chinese, additional capital controls introduced on 1st January will restrict their actual ability to buy.
This holiday period, referred to as Golden Week but actually lasting generally until 14th February this year, will result in a massive number of tourists visiting our shores. Surveys indicate that a full half of these have intentions of looking at buying property. This year though, it’s not so much about desire as ability to buy. Confusion still exists on whether Chinese residents are able to use their US$50,000 eligible transfer out of China for property at all. Also, from 1st July, any transaction over $10,000 will have to be reported to the Chinese Government, much like our $10k cash transactions in Australia.
Whilst the same news publications on different days will talk up the huge demand that still exists from overseas buyers and how this will ensure the market continues its strong trajectory, it appears that the early reasons to cause it start to fade might just be in place. Only time will tell but we expect the market might just be a bit quieter in the Year of the Rooster.