Chinese developers have again been making their presence felt, snaffling 75 per cent of Melbourne’s development sites in the back end of last year.
After waning interest due to apartment oversupply and increasing regulations and taxes, Chinese buyers took three quarters of the developments that were on offer in Melbourne between August and December.
Those figures are a lot higher than the early months of 2016 showing Chinese interest clearly rebounded in the second half of the year.
CBRE national director Mark Wizel said Chinese interest in Melbourne developments is the highest it’s been in years.
“We’ve sold more properties to Chinese buyers in the pat five months than in any other five-month period since 2009,” he told Australian Financial Review.
“Chinese developers see a lot of value in Melbourne and they are willing to accept a lower return because they can save money in other ways, such as by selling apartments directly into China and avoiding paying local estate agent commission fees.”
The Australian Financial Review say their calculations have Chinese developers buying around $730 million worth of Melbourne property development since August.
“They also have a better read on demand from China for housing than we have,” he said.
“They wouldn’t buy these sites if they didn’t have the end buyers.”
To get the opinion of a Chinese investor, Australian Financial Review spoke to Jiaheng Chan from Beulah International.
Mr Chan is behind a new apartment project in Ivanhoe and says Melbourne is an attractive place to live and stressed the importance of educational facilities for investors.
“A major drawcard for Melbourne is the education system and the quality of schools and universities on offer, so we’re drawn to develop near educational hubs where there is strong demand for more dwellings,” he said.
