Canberra's real estate market is seeing an increased interest from the Chinese investors.
Real estate agents handling listings in the Canberra area are saying that there is a steady influx of Chinese investors who are willing to pay big money to acquire property in Australia's capital city. According to ABC, while Sydney and Melbourne have been getting the spotlight in Australia's real estate market overall, the Chinese have been busy shopping properties in Canberra especially in suburbs like Lawson and Gungahlin.
A well-known Chinese developer, Tony Pan has reportedly spent around $132 million buying real estate in Lawson and Amaroo. Pan studied in the Australian National University which he explains made him fall in love with Canberra. He loved it so much, he said, that it made him want to become an Australian citizen.
Pan looks at investing in the ACT as a promising move and with access to big funding from associates abroad, he wants to capitalize on this potential. He said "Big companies invest here, like Ikea, so we see this as an opportunity. Besides there are so many things happening in Canberra. We're expecting international flights to start and we have light rail."
Pan also added that he is happy that the ACT Government is openly welcoming Chinese investors and he dispelled negative comments about the possible competition between Australian and foreign buyers. He said, "Investment is a very good thing, especially for a place like Canberra where it needs to grow, it needs more investment, it needs employment. We're not threatening anyone but bring prosperity here."
Meanwhile, in a report by Canberra Times, Australia's capital is seeing an increased growth of foreign investments in real estate. The most recent numbers from the Foreign Investment Review Board show that there were 165 approvals made for the ACT for this year alone which is the highest number recorded in 10 years.
