Showing posts with label chinese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chinese. Show all posts

Friday, December 16, 2016

Big Discounts to Lure Chinese

On page 3 of the Australian Financial Review on 15 December 2016 is a story titled "Big discounts to lure Chinese unit buyers."  It says that property developers are discretely offering discounts on new apartments in Brisbane and elsewhere to Chinese buyers, in a sign that lending restrictions and oversupply are beginning to affect prices.

Price discounts of up to 7% are being offered on Chinese property website fang.com.

An example is given of discounts on apartments in the Brisbane One complex near South Bank.  For a two bedroom apartment of 86 sqm, there is a $40,000 discount, so that the price is now $675,000.  To me, that discounted price seems to be over-priced!

"The market has slowed down a lot over the past six months and recently the only deals that are moving are those with big incentives."

A real estate agent reported that a number of his clients in Shanghai had been unable to obtain finance and therefore could not settle, and so lost their deposit.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

China limits cash moves offshore - danger for property settlements

A story in today's Australian Financial Review is titled "China limits cash moves offshore" and show the risks for developers in relation to off-the-plan sales contracts.  The Chinese buyer may not be able to get the cash out of China, and then may not be able to settle the contract on completion of the building.  And try suing the Chinese buyer.  Some buildings under construction in Brisbane have more than 80% offshore buyers, so I suspect that some developers may run into troubles next year.

China limits cash moves offshore
AFR, 21 Jan 2016, p1

Shanghai | Chinese banks are delaying and even blocking some foreign exchange transactions under a decision by the central government to limit capital leaving the country, a move that could hurt demand for foreign assets including Australian property.

At meetings on Monday and Tuesday afternoon senior bank executives were told by the government to toughen up their capital controls.

While they haven't introduced new rules, one executive told The Australian Financial Review banks were using existing measures to slow the amount of money going overseas. The crackdown has seen more stringent checks for both companies and individuals.

"We are now refusing all foreign currency transfers where the documents are not fully complete … previously the requirements were not so strict," said a bank executive in Shanghai who asked not to be named.

...

An Australian real estate agent based in Shanghai, Scott Kirchner, said the tougher capital controls could "cause problems for Australian developers as clients may not be able to get their money out of China".

"I'm advising people not to sign a contract unless they already have their money outside China," said Mr Kirchner, a director of BellerChina. "There is lots of uncertainty at the moment and that might affect sales."

In China, individuals are restricted to exchanging the equivalent of $US50,000 in foreign currency each year.

American lawyer Dan Harris said on his blog on January 14 that his firm's China office had received more "money problem" calls in one week than it had received for the whole of the past year.

"If there is a common theme, it is that China banks seem to be doing whatever they can to avoid paying anyone in dollars," said Mr Harris from Seattle-based firm Harris Moure.  He said it had affected real estate agents and companies waiting for Chinese investment money.

Previously, one option for those interested in buying overseas property was to use the currency quotas of friends and family.

Alternatively, underground channels in Macau or Hong Kong were available to get money out of the country. Both these methods are now under increased scrutiny as the government tries to stabilise the yuan.

"They haven't introduced any new capital controls but the implementation of existing measures has been strengthened," said another executive, who works at one of China's big state-owned banks.

David Olsson, a China Practice Consultant at law firm King & Wood Mallesons, said Chinese banks "have clearly got some direction to look more closely at outbound capital flows particularly around Shanghai and Shenzhen".

He said it was not expected to affect legitimate outbound investment and Australia would continue to be a big beneficiary of Chinese investment in agriculture, services-related sectors and tourism."

Monday, November 3, 2014

Tax for foreign investors on transactions involving taxable Australian property

On 31 October 2014, the Government released a discussion paper outlining the proposed design options for implementing the previously announced non-final withholding tax in relation to disposals by foreign residents of certain 'taxable Australian property' assets. The measure is proposed to commence from 1 July 2016.


The measure was originally contained in the former Government's 2013-14 Budget. The current Government announced on 6 November 2013 that it would proceed with the measure.


The release of the discussion paper will be of interest to those foreign investors who may be considering divesting their Australian real property or business assets over the next few years, as well as investors who are considering acquiring such assets from foreign investors over the same time period.


For full details, see King & Wood Mallesons publication

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Interest Rates and Housing Bubble in Australia?

Interest rates for residential housing are at lifetime record lows.  Banks are awash in cheap cash that they want to lend.  Lending standards have deteriorated, and money is being loaned out willy nilly.  Good established properties in Brisbane are selling quickly at good prices.  Those wanting to invest are turning to off-the-plan apartment developments, where it is an easier process to sell and buy -- but at higher than market prices.  Is housing price growth solid and sustainable, or a bubble?

When buying, questions to consider:
  • What will happen when quantitative easing ends in the USA?
  • Will there be inflation?
  • What is the risk of the Australian government removing negative gearing, and what impact will this have on property prices?
  • What will happen if China property prices collapse?  What will happen if Chinese buyers stop buying in Australia?
  • In a year, will all off-the-plan buyers be able to settle?
  • Why are off-the-plan prices for apartments much higher than similar properties that the developers have sold, and the first owner is reselling?
An interesting article re the possible bubble is here.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

China Impact

Four recent articles in the AFR are of interest in relation to the impact of China on Australian property.

"Spike in approvals for foreign investment in housing" (AFR, 12 June 2014, p. 36): The FIRB has approved a big jump in applications to buy Australian housing.  In dollar terms, the investment approved is up 67%.

"Chinese buyers key to market: Triguboff" (AFR, 12 June 2014, p. 36):  Meriton raised the issue of whether those who were allowed to buy homes because they were temporary residents, sold them when they ceased to be Australian residents.  In the 2012-13 year, 43.7% of FIRB approvals were for temporary residents to buy established dwellings, because foreign buyers who do not have permanent residency, can only buy new homes.  Meriton pointed out that the annual report of the FIRB did not report on compliance.

"We are part of the Chinese market.  The buyers compare me [Meriton] with the prices in Shanghai and Beijing.  If the price falls in China, that will affect us," Mr Triguboff said.

"China's housing vacancies signal property bubble" (AFR, 12 June 2014, p. 10): A report estimates that there are 49 million vacant homes in China, resulting in a vacancy rate of 22.4%.  "Once expectations change, the high vacancy rate will puts lots of pressure on prices and we could see them collapse."

"President targets naked civil servants" (AFR, 11 June 2014, p. 14): A group of Chinese bureaucrats, dubbed the luoguan or naked officials have become the latest target of President Xi Jinping.  They move their families and money to foreign countries.  "No one know how much this new approach will affect universities and real estate markets in favoured destinations like Australia as the numbers are hard to pin down.  But they are not small."  There are estimated to be about 1.2 million naked officials at the end of 2012.

"House prices second highest in the world" (AFR, 12 June 2014, p. 5): Australia may have the world's second-most expensive housing market behind Belgium, according to the IMF.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

McGrath's View of Brisbane

Chief executive of McGrath Estate Agents and founder of the Australasian Real Estate Conference, John McGrath, said residential property in southeast Queensland had years of price increases ahead of it.
“Sydney and Melbourne have a couple of years to go (with price growth) and I think the market here (in Queensland) has three to four years to go of price growth,” he said.
Chinese property investment was also set to become increasingly important to southeast Queensland.
“It hasn’t yet hit southeast Queensland anywhere near the degree I expect it to,” Mr McGrath said. “At this point southeast Queensland has not been explored thoroughly and I think you’ll find huge Chinese buying coming into the Gold Coast and Queensland over the next few years as well.”

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Two Tier Property Market in Brisbane?

Is there are two tier market in Brisbane for apartments?  Are Brisbane owners, investors and renters looking for one kind of apartment, but developers are building another kind of apartment for foreign investors?  Some commentators have said that there will be an oversupply of apartments in Brisbane. For a certain kind of apartment, that may be correct.  But for what Brisbanites want, there may be an undersupply.

Take Bowen Hills for example.  It is close to the city, but has very few local amenities.  It was a light industrial area, and with highways cutting through it.  It is not inner city, and too far to walk to downtown or the Valley.  There are no parks or restaurants or river views.  There are number of large apartment buildings being constructed in that area, with small one and two bed apartments.  A lot of the sales and marketing is targeted at foreign investors, particularly the Chinese.  But do locals want to live in these apartments?  They are very small, and the buildings are very dense.  There are very few owner occupiers in these buildings.

Some examples are Madison Heights (286 apartments) and Chelsea (195 apartments).  It appears that it is taking a long time to rent out or re-rent the apartments in these buildings.  Rents are being reduced, for example, to $485 for a two bedroom apartment.  I suspect that the rental market is saying that, for the location and facilities, you can do much better elsewhere, so the apartments are renting only if rents are very competitive.



On the other hand, river front apartments in Brisbane city, apartments in New Farm, and "normal" residential locations such as Indooroopilly (where very few new apartments have been added to the market in the past five years), appear to be selling well and renting quickly.  These apartments are often much larger (130 sqm compared to 75 sqm for a 2 bedroom apartment, for example), have a better location, have more owner occupiers, and there is not an oversupply.

I also wonder what rents and returns the investors in the new apartment buildings have been promised, and what they are actually receiving, and for how long the apartment sits empty not generating rent?

Will the rents hold up when it comes renewal time in six months or a year?  Will tenants stay on or move out?  The Chelsea is an example of a building that appears to have a number of apartments for rent; it completed in 2012, and received bad press at the time.  (An advertisement below from last year for Urban Edge at Kelvin Grove, settled last year, where apartments will be coming up for renewal about now.  Kelvin Grove is a much better location than Bowen Hills in my view.)


Friday, November 1, 2013

Avoid Areas where Chinese Buyers are buying

"There’s only one aspect of this that’s in any way outrageous – and that is the way Australian developers and their marketers are peddling bad real estate at inflated prices to distant investors.  There’s nothing new in this. 

Developers have always targeted distant investors to, firstly, get rid of unsold dwellings for which there are no genuine local buyers – and, secondly, to go a step further and create new stock specifically to sell to distant investors, notwithstanding the local over-supply or depressed market.  In the past, the victims have been found interstate, out west or in New Zealand. Now Asia is being targeted, especially China.

Marketing teams are taking roadshows to China and using deception to induce investors there to buy highrise apartments or house and land packages in poorly-performing markets.  There’s no crisis here, but one might emerge if Australian investors follow the advice that’s starting to emerge – namely, that they should be buying where the Chinese are buying.

I would suggest Australian buyers do the opposite. Avoid like the plague any markets being pitched to the Chinese. They’re being sold product in oversupplied markets, usually at prices above true market value. They’re not markets a sensible investor would want to be in."

See article in Property Observer

Based on this advice, one would want to carefully consider buying in any Meriton or Metro Property off-the-plan development in Brisbane.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Foreign Investors

Foreign buyers snapped up one in every eight new properties built this year - up from one in 20 properties in 2011, National Australia Bank research reveals.

Australia's foreign investment rules ban foreigners from buying established homes, and developers can sell half their properties to foreign investors before they are built.

Colliers International's managing director of residential property in Australia, Peter Chittenden, yesterday said Asian buyers were purchasing 60 per cent of units being sold off-the-plan in big developments.

He said overseas buyers had snapped up two in every three of the 588 luxury apartments in the Singaporean-owned Tower Melbourne development - being constructed as the city's tallest building.

Foreign investors have bought 15 to 20 per cent of the 710 apartments being built by Pearls Australasia and Metro Property Development in three towers in the inner-Brisbane suburbs of Bowen Hills and Fortitude Valley.  Pearls Australasia executive director David Higgins said Asian buyers were more likely to buy the more expensive apartments - costing more than $600,000 - with extra space or views.

Source:  Courier Mail

"According to research from LandMark White, of the 27 apartment projects completed in the inner-city precinct between 2011 and 2012, the vast majority were rental properties.  "Anecdotal evidence reports circa 40% to 50% of these investors are Asian buyers," it reports.  "Current conditions indicate investment in the inner apartment market remains robust due to strong rental growth and tight vacancy."

Source:  Courier Mail, Saturday August 24, 2013, p.33

See also: Property Observer: Trends

Friday, August 9, 2013

Buyers Retuning to the Market?

Real estate agents are reporting that buyers are coming back to the market in Brisbane, and that prices achieved are increasing.  For example, two bedroom apartments in higher quality city apartments that, at the height of the boom achieved above $800,000, and then dropped to the mid $600,000 range, are now selling in the $700,000 plus range, and sometimes more.  This includes a two bedroom apartment in Quay West, sold for about $700,000; a two bedroom in Admiralty Towers Two sold above $750,000 and a two bedroom in Saville at Southbank for more than $800,000.  In fact, another two bedroom at Saville is now listed for sale in the $900,000 range.

Investors appear to be returning to the market, due to lower interest rates.  Owner-occuppiers are looking for larger apartments, and there are not many high quality larger apartments available for sale (partly because developers have been focusing on building very small apartments that have been sold to foreign investors).  With interest rates low, many investors who currently own property are not selling, because these properties are now becoming positively geared -- why sell, unless the price offered is high?  There is a shortage of apartments for sale for owner-occuppiers; and a shortage of existing apartments (compared with off-the-plan apartments) for investors.

Towers like Infinity, aimed at Chinese investors, do not provide what local Brisbane buyers want in my view.

Photo of Infinity, under construction on the right.  Evolution Apartments is the smaller building in the middle of the photo.  The Supreme Court building is on the right in the foreground; the Magistrates Court building on the left in the foreground.  400 George St is the taller building on the left.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Chinese Buyers & Infinity

The AFR had a story on 24 July:  "Brisbane keen for more Chinese buyers".  Some extracts:
  • Harry Triguboff from Meriton apartments expects Brisbane to be next in line for an influx of Chines investors, but says it will depend on the growth in education in Brisbane.
  • Chinese buyers in Brisbane were few and far between, when compared with Sydney and Melbourne.
  • Infinity Tower, by Merition, has sold about 200 apartments according to Urbis. 
  • In the first quarter, only seven apartments were sold in Infinity, for an average price of $560,714.
  • Meriton has no additional plans for apartments for Brisbane.  "I want the Brisbane market to get stronger first."

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Infinity Retreats to Serviced Apartments

Meriton Apartments builds more than 1,000 units a year – recently it has shifted its attention to serviced apartments, holding back nearly half of the apartments in its 81-storey Infinity tower in the Brisbane CBD to be offered as serviced apartments.

Meriton boss Harry Triguboff says Chinese buyers are retreating from the market due to the high Australian dollar and uncertainty in China as its economy cools.  Triguboff says that in the last three months Chinese buying has subsided, replaced (in Sydney) by first-home buyers taking advantage of new state government handouts.

No one is sure why Brisbane did not immediately respond but it would seem that the severity of the state government cuts and the fears about what will happen to coal mining would have played a role. Again it is early days and addition a large part of the Brisbane building skills base is employed constructing the mines.

See Property Observer and Business Spectator

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

RBA's view

The RBA governor said future economic shocks that would hurt Australia could happen in a number of ways, such as a severe economic slowdown in China and a collapse in dwelling prices.

"The ingredients we would look for as signalling an imminent crash seem, if anything, less in evidence now than five years ago," he said.

"By the same token there are things we can do to improve our prospects or, if you will, to make a bit of our own future luck," he said.  "Some of the adjustments we have been seeing, as awkward as they might seem, are actually strengthening resilience to possible future shocks.  Higher more normal rates of household saving, a more sober attitude towards debt, a re-orientation of banks funding, and a period of dwelling prices not moving much come into this category," Mr Stevens said.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/we-should-build-on-our-luck-rbas-stevens/story-e6frfm1i-1226433865255#ixzz21XBd1kh4

Monday, July 16, 2012

Brisbane City Census Data

For the past few weeks, I have been looking at the 2011 census data.  It is very useful for property investors.  In my view, the best place to search is via an address search, and the results are then available in layers, from a few blocks, to suburb, post code area, and so on.  You can search here.

For Brisbane City downtown area, in 2011, here is some interesting data (full results here):



  • population - 7,888 people
  • median age - 29
  • Most people are in the 25 to 29 age group (22% of the population)
  • 1,526 families
  • 32% married
  • 37% have University qualifications (compared with 13.5% for Qld or 14.35 for Australia as a whole).
  • 4,516 dwellings in total (of which, 98.7% are apartments)
  • Average of 2 people per household
  • 50.9% of dwellings had 2 bedrooms
  • Median weekly household income - $1,828
  • 54.5% of dwellings are rented
  • Median rent - $530 per week
  • 0.8 cars per dwelling
  • Ancestry: "The most common ancestries in Brisbane City (State Suburbs) were English 18.0%, Australian 11.3%, Chinese 9.8%, Irish 7.0% and Korean 5.8%."
  • Country of birth: "In Brisbane City (State Suburbs), 33.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were Korea, Republic of (South) 6.6%, England 4.4%, China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 3.9%, Taiwan 3.3% and New Zealand 2.5%."
  • 63.5% had both parents born outside of Australia


Sunday, May 27, 2012

Chinese buying up Australian apartments: They are cheap!

See story in SMH
Meriton chief Harry Triguboff said 80 per cent of his customers are Chinese.  One reason is that foreign buyers can buy an unlimited number of apartments off-the-plan.  A good reason to avoid off-the-plan apartments today.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Budget to Impact Property Prices

Australian residential property will now be less attractive to foreigners after the Federal Budget last night.  As a large number of foreigners buy apartments off-the-plan in Queensland, this market for new apartments will be impacted by the changes, and the impact is negative.

The Government will remove the 50 per cent CGT discount for non residents on capital gains accrued after 7.30 pm (AEST) on 8 May 2012. The CGT discount will remain available for capital gains accrued prior to this time where non residents choose to obtain a market valuation of assets as at 8 May 2012. This measure would affect capital gains relating to taxable Australian property (e.g. capital gains from Australian real estate or interests in Australian land rich entities) which are realised by non-residents who would otherwise be eligible for the CGT discount (e.g. foreign individuals).

The Government will adjust the personal income tax rates and thresholds that apply to non residents’ Australian income. From 1 July 2012, the first two marginal tax rate thresholds will be merged into a single threshold. The marginal rate for this threshold will align with the second marginal tax rate for residents (32.5 per cent) and will apply to all taxable income below $80,000. From 1 July 2015, the same marginal rate will again rise from 32.5 per cent to 33 per cent.
Source:  KWM

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Who is buying and what are they buying?

From the hsbrisbaneproperty.com.au newsletter from an agent that specialises in mid-priced inner city Brisbane apartments:

Usually buyers are hot-off-the-mark in January, however this year we’ve seen buyer interest only gradually increase in January with a marked jump in February. This also translated into sales and is a positive indication of the year to come. In fact, we recorded more buyers signing contracts than in any other month over the last two years.

What are people buying? The trend to properties up to $500,000 continues within the CBD. Although there is and always will be certain demand for top-end properties, $500,000 seems to be the upper limit for the majority of buyers, particularly investors, at present. One bed units were the ‘property of choice’ in February, probably due to their perceived more affordable price.

Who is buying? Both owner occupiers and investors were busy in February. Currently, the tightening CBD rental market is directing some tenants into property ownership as the most viable alternative. This is not only true for young professionals, but also for overseas students not able to find CBD rental accommodation. On the investor front, we recorded significant interest from overseas buyers, particular from China.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Chinese Investors


"And buyers from China once again topped the list, according to new research by Colliers International.  The figures on buying patterns during the 2010-2011 financial year have shown 733 residential sales to foreign buyers.  In all, 506 of those sales were investments with 277 for owner-occupiers."

Monday, December 26, 2011

Off-the-plan commissions

I have recently come across off-the-plan developments in Brisbane where the agent is being paid a flat 7% or 8% commission.  These agents are mostly selling to foreign buyers.  On a $600,000 apartment, that means $48,000 goes to the agent.  In other words, you are paying at least 8% too much!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Spotting a Bubble

An excellent article by Bill Moss, who was very senior at Macquarie Bank, has been published recently.

"I have always believed that no one should ever invest in anything unless the fundamentals are right. If the people who pay the rent or borrow the money to purchase a property cannot afford to keep up repayments, then a property investment fails. After a global financial crisis, the concept of keeping vacant real estate as an inventory item, as the sheiks of Dubai did or as the Chinese and Russians tried to do, is doomed to end in tears."
Read the full article at Property Observer.