Foreign Property Investment in Focus
There are very few with more experience of the growing Chinese demand for Australian property than Simon Henry, the Co-CEO of Juwai – China’s largest foreign property website. The Property Council was pleased to jointly host a luncheon event with the Australia China Business Council last Friday, where Simon shared his extensive knowledge with 2 members and guests.
Juwai.com, the world’s first Chinese global real estate platform, is headquartered both in Hong Kong and Shanghai. The website, which connects Chinese buyers with international property, has over 2.6 million visits each month. With 105 staff across 10 countries, Simon says that Juwai have not experienced any of the Chinese economic slowdown.
The Chinese demand for foreign property investment as a secure long term investment is set to continue to grow dramatically. Statistics presented by Simon outlined that the total Chinese investment in foreign property is on track to grow from 5 billion in 2010 to an expected 220 billion in 2020, and that three weeks ago, China overtook the United States to claim the world’s largest number of billionaires.
After lunch Simon was joined by Peter Hobbs, General Manager of Sales and Marketing for Metro Property, and Simone Caralis, Director Real Estate Transactions – Deloitte Release Estate, for a panel discussion moderated by State General Manager for Westpac Premium QLD, Tim Galvin.
The panellists examined how foreign investment out of China is no longer a speculative venture, but highly sophisticated, well informed and analytical. There was a consensus that greater collaboration in the marketing of Australian destinations for investment was required.
One of the themes of the discussion was the need for Australian companies to dig deeper than the major Chinese cities to seek potential investors. Second tier Chinese cities are home to a considerable number of potential investors, who are more likely to take out a mortgage to fund a foreign property purchase. China is often considered a single entity; while Simon suggested that it should be considered by business as 39 different countries with unique dialects and culture.
Although the G20 conference and the Queen’s Wharf precinct announcement had ‘put Brisbane on the map,’ and Brisbane is growing as a unique Australian investment destination, there was an acknowledgment from the panel that foreign investment rules continue to make Australia less competitive against other overseas markets.
The Property Council thanks all of the speakers for the generously giving their time to participate in the event, and the Australia China Business Council for jointly hosting the luncheon. Special thanks must also go to sponsor Westpac for their generous support.
Photos from the event can be found here.
Event sponsor: