Foreign investor interest in Australia remains strong, according to the Foreign Investment Review Board chair David Irvine. Chinese buying is being impacted by several factors, local and international. There's been the unexpected cancelling of promised mortgage loans by Australian banks, plus the higher foreign stamp duty taxes, along with Chinese government capital controls making it more difficult to move money from China, suggests Carrie Law, the boss of the Chinese property portal Juwai.com. I don't think we ought regard the recent trend as permanent given tailwinds that will support Chinese buying, including the still-strong Chinese wealth growth, she said, reports Realestate.com.au (23 February 2019).
