DOES it appear that the role of the Foreign Investment Review Board (the FIRB) is to look after the wealth portfolio of their client base, largely the Property Sector … ?
CAAN has a look at a document alleged to be ‘The Facts about Foreign Buyers’ … of Australian Real Estate from the Real Estate Institute of Australia …
WITH the development of Fiefdoms across Sydney … known as High-rise Precincts, does this Sector seriously believe that Australians cannot see what is going on?
OBVIOUSLY these ‘Fiefdoms’ evolved due to the high cost of tiny lots in the Sydney CBD and the inner circle suburbs …
PERHAPS this has something to do with the evolution of so many HIGH-RISE PRECINCTS across Sydney … where developers could buy large lots at a fraction of the cost … to sell to a huge overseas market!
THE HIGH-RISE PRECINCTS across Sydney that look like Fiefdoms … were proposed dating back to 2012! Facilitated by high immigration and Visa manipulation.
When their suburbs are being inundated with people from overseas particularly since 2015 from Mainland China … that as at 2015 many Australians were outbid at house auctions – largely attended by these Visa holders or their onshore Proxy, and that this experience continued … until there was a change with Realtors cancelling auctions to conduct sales inhouse …
In this frenzied environment prices of homes escalated … perhaps unbeknowns to many at that time (2015) investment of $1.5M in a home correlated with an Investment Stream Visa … which no doubt also contributed to the price hike!
YES, why do we need ‘foreign investment’ which are in fact foreign acquisitions’?
The answer to this perhaps goes back to lobbying by this sector in 2008/09 when they were able to convince the government with ‘the Sting’ that they needed to increase their overseas marketing sales from 50% to 100% of ‘new homes’! They then got an FIRB ruling!
AND Australia not only has had high immigration but a backdoor to migration through Visa Manipulation with Temporary Visa holders able to gain ‘Permanent Residency’ when they bought our real estate …
As reported, the FIRB to date in November 2018 had not carried out a single prosecution against foreign buyers who had failed to comply with our laws on buying our real estate!
WHY is it that temporary Visa holders can purchase our land, an established home and a number of ‘new homes’? … How can that be of any benefit to Australians? With so much competition in the market?
Amanda Lynch, the former CEO of the REIA suggests that without foreign money many new developments would not be possible … of course not because they would bloody well not be needed!
Constituents especially Our Youth do not need them either because they are priced out, or because we resent this ugly inundation of High-Rise Precinct Fiefdoms across Sydney …
Rentals are only now coming down due to the Pandemic with so many having lost their jobs and/or business owners have had to break their leases … forcing landlords to reduce the rents to gain new tenants …
Previously it was said that Chinese buyers were targeting homes valued at less than $1M which is the market normally for Australian First Home Buyers. However, Ms Lynch puts that these foreign buyers are acquiring properties valued at more than $1M …
That could possibly be the case with reports that some ‘buy a whole floor of an apartment development’ … CAAN was notified of this happening in Asquith!
AND there are no limits on the number of ‘new homes’ they can buy!
WHY wouldn’t the REIA believe that this huge foreign market was good for this Sector? As the supply was built for these foreign buyers … a possible 1.4 Billion of ‘em!
The suggestion that this increased the supply of rental properties is readily disputed due to the numerous reports of ‘foreign buyer’ dwellings left vacant and pristine.
Have you noticed in your area such empty dwellings? We know of a ‘block of flats’ that has remained empty for more than 12 months; recently it has been lit up of a late afternoon with blinds half open; some move up and down a little periodically (on a timer), and the lights on one balcony remain on all day and all night. No-one is ever seen to enter, or leave … mail and flyers ooze out of the letterbox …
From a record $72B foreign buying spree in our real estate in 2015/16 it is alleged to have dropped to $30B despite the increased housing development in that period …
Could that be explained by the presence of the onshore Proxy, and/or the foreign buyer having gained a PR Visa through online purchase?
What the Institute omits to refer to are the vast number of UHNW and HNW acquiring our real estate who were not discouraged by increased stamp duties, nor banks tightening lending because it would seem that they deal in shadow banking … and Black Money … what did make a difference in or about 2018 was China’s capital controls! Since lifted …
WITH the FIRB role of ensuring this foreign buyer market in Australian ‘new homes’ …
DOES it seem that this is the very reason for the existence of the FIRB?
The fees of $5000 or $10000 are nothing to those of High Net Worth …. Temp. Visa holders who buy our real estate can fast-track to gain a ‘Permanent Resident Visa’
AND there are no limits on the number of ‘new homes’ that foreign non-residents can buy; they only have to seek FIRB approval … for whatever that means!
FURTHER … they can buy an established home for redevelopment … hence many beautiful Heritage and Mid Century Homes demolished allegedly to increase housing stock …
Possibly for even more ‘foreign buyers’?
READ MORE!
About the Facts on Foreign Buyers of our Real Estate from the Real Estate Institute …
COMMUNITY ACTION ALLIANCE FOR NSW (CAAN): HOUSING INEQUALITY WITH AUSSIES LOCKED OUT! 