Tighter regulations to ruffle Chinese property buyers' feathers this Lunar New Year

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Flocks of Chinese property buyers will be landing in Melbourne over the next week, as Lunar New Year took off this Saturday, but agents fear this “golden week” may not be as busy.

Tighter rules on money transfers out of China, combined with lending restrictions from Australian banks, are expected to slow the rush of foreign property buying.

Though there are strong numbers of tourists travelling to Melbourne, Ray White Balwyn director Helen Yan said there would be fewer people hunting for property compared to last year.

Chinese residents can legally send up to US$50,000 out of the country every year. Starting in July 2017, banks will reportedly need to declare any overseas transfers by individuals of US$10,000 or more.

Chinese buyers could be stuck if Australian banks did not start lending, Ms Yan said. “A lot of agents are already struggling — if you don’t have an overseas [network], it’s very hard.”

During golden week, Ms Yan planned to show properties in Balwyn, Balwyn North, Canterbury and Kew in the $3.6 million to $5.5 million price range. 

Many of her prospective buyers would have a temporary visa, which allowed them to purchase one established property to live in as their residence.

Esther Yong, managing director of Chinese portals Sodichan and co-founder of ACproperty, agreed this year was a quieter golden week.

Many Chinese tourists viewed properties as a part of a tour group, but the number of people who signed up this time was about half of last year’s, she said.

Buyers might also take longer to commit than in the past because of tighter regulations. 

Though activity had slowed over the past few months, buyers coming to Melbourne this golden week were more qualified, Ms Yong said. 

There was growing interest in house and land packages in the northern and western suburbs because more agents were promoting them in China, she said. Agents felt house and land packages were easier to sell.

Biggin and Scott Glen Waverley director Ming Xu said there was strong activity from local buyers, and offshore Chinese buyers might find a way around the restrictions.

Mid-price range properties — less than $1.5 million — were still in good demand because it was easier for buyers to finance, he said. 

“All the rules and regulations coming in are challenges, but not barriers,” he said, adding that Australia was still an attractive place to invest compared with other countries because of higher outgoing costs for investors. 

His agency is organising for at least one Chinese-speaking agent to be at every open for inspection during golden week. 

A recent survey from international property website for Chinese buyers, juwai.com, found nearly half the Chinese consumers planning to travel internationally during Chinese New Year also planned to hunt for property.

Juwai.com CEO Charles Pittar said most agents expected this year to be even busier during the holiday than last year.