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Business brief: Australia to charge fees to foreign buyers
Australia plans to charge fees to foreign nationals buying residential property and fine those who break foreign investment laws, in an attempt to improve housing affordability amid some of the worldâs highest property prices
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ustralia plans to charge fees to foreign nationals buying residential property and fine those who break foreign investment laws, in an attempt to improve housing affordability amid some of the world's highest property prices.
The scheme could raise about A$200 million a year by charging foreign home-buyers A$5,000 for properties valued under A$1 million and an additional A$10,000 for every additional A$1 million, Treasurer Joe Hockey said on Wednesday.
Hockey said a register of foreign nationals buying real estate would be established and those who break the law would face a fine up to a quarter of the value of the property and could be forced to sell.
Australian property has long been a popular choice for Chinese money ' both legitimate and illegitimate ' but the flow of investment appears to have accelerated.
Australia's foreign investment review board says China was the No.1 source of foreign capital investment in real estate in 2013, approving nearly A$6 billion (US$4.73 billion) of investment, up 41 percent from a year ago.
Chinese investors are forecast to spend $20 billion on offshore property this year, up 21 percent on 2014 as more domestic real estate developers and insurers internationalise their holdings.
