Chinese buyers-where are they now

I was interested to read late last month that the Hong Kong government has introduced new measures to try to cool the domestic property market. 

AFP reported that the new measures will ‘particularly hit wealthy investors from mainland China, whose buying spree in high-end apartments has done much to stoke fears of a new bubble in the Hong Kong economy’.

Sound familiar?

In April this year the Australian Federal Government reintroduced foreign investment laws that restrict foreign investors to purchasing only new homes and allows temporary residents to buy existing properties only while they reside in Australia.

The change came on the back of media reports suggesting foreign investors, predominantly from China, were responsible for the high price of property which was forcing local investors out of the market.

Morton & Morton was extensively quoted as our statistics showed a significant growth in the percentage and value of property we had sold to Chinese buyers between 2008 and 2009.

So what has been the impact of the revised foreign investment rules?  Has demand from foreign buyers retreated and subsequently allowed more domestic buyers to invest?

Not from where I sit.  We continue to see interest from Chinese buyers equal to the months leading up to the change, however a majority of our business continues to be with domestic purchasers as it always was.