Analysts said the investment fee hike by Australia for foreigners may be untimely considering the heightened risks of inflation, global recession and declining home prices in the country.
Canberra doubled the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) application fees on Friday last week, with the maximum set at A$1.045 million (US$730,000) for deals worth more than A$2 billion.
Investors from the United States, Singapore, Canada, China and Germany were the largest foreign buyers of Australian assets last year, according to Juwai IQI, which markets properties to Asian buyers. Annually, foreigners invest about A$10.4 billion in Australian real estate in more than 4,000 transactions.
“The fee is significant enough to be a factor, but it won’t turn away many investors,” said Daniel Ho, co-founder and group managing director at Juwai IQI. “The situation where it is most likely to have a negative impact is when a foreign investor is bidding at auction against other buyers for an asset.”
Read more: South China Morning Post
Read Daniel’s opinion piece on the Australian fee increase here: The Real Estate Conversation
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