War on corruption drives money away to Australia
China Daily, August 18, 2014 Adjust font size:
Haven for funds
Australian property has long been a popular choice for Chinese money - both legitimate and illegitimate - but the flow of investment appears to have accelerated.
According to Australia's foreign investment review board, China was the top source of foreign capital investment in Australian real estate in 2013. Chinese citizens received approvals to invest nearly $5.58 billion into the sector, up 41 percent from a year ago.
"They are worried, so they are looking for a safe place," said a Sydney-based immigration lawyer, who is advising on setting up a new fund exclusively for Chinese investors and regularly travels to Beijing and Shanghai.
"They don't want returns, not necessarily. They want a safe place to park their funds," he added.
China is expected to see an annual growth of 20 percent in outbound real estate investment in the next decade, up from $11.5 billion last year, property agent Savills has forecast.
That will help push up Chinese demand for Australian property by 15 percent over the next 12 months, said Andrew Taylor, co-CEO of Juwai.com, the largest real estate portal that targets Chinese buyers looking abroad.
Such strong interest is likely to boost Australia's apartment construction, which is set to hit record levels by 2017 and remain elevated through to 2020, Brokerage CLSA said this month.
