In recent times there has been much speculation that Foreign Buyers are pushing property prices higher in Australia and out bidding Australian residents. The panic has been heard in Canberra and a new Committee was formed to review this important issue.
In truth, the fear of foreign investors is largely false as many people do not realise that a foreign investor can not buy an established property, and is only allowed to acquire newly constructed property or off-plan sales.
The strong immigration levels Australia experiences means many locals confuse new arrivals with foreigners and hence a community misconception about the impact of foreign investors exists.
The reality is that foreign investors keep prices down as they improve the supply of new housing to help satisfy the growing demand from Australia's rising population, which is the real reason behind lifting prices - demand driven growth.
SMATS Group proudly made a submission on behalf of our thousands of clients to the Committee to ensure their voice was heard with reason and clarity.
Click here to read our Submission
This follows on from the continuing efforts by SMATS to have the recent removal of the 50% discount on Capital Gains Tax for foreign investors and expatriates repealed.
Since the announcement, foreign investment in Australian Real estate fell almost A$3bn year on year, which shows how dangerous this change is and may become in the future. This was predicted by SMATS in our presentations to the then Labor Government who chose to ignore our warnings despite a well thought and logical assessment, including a petition signed by almost 3,000 foreign investors.
Australia's budget woes means that the country can not afford to risk continuing and improved foreign investment into a valuable non-mining sector of the community that not only creates and stimulates activity but creates employment and valuable housing stock in the property market.
