Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Overseas investors forcing Perth house prices up: Andrews

Thanks to the relaxation of foreign investment rules, house prices in Australia have increased as an influx of overseas investors snapped up houses in Perth and around the country. Here's a quote from AAP, from Kevin Andrews, opposition spokesman for Housing. 
"I've met with representatives elsewhere in Australia and it's quite clear both that in Perth and in Sydney and Melbourne and elsewhere around Australia there has been a significant influx after the last few months of foreign non-resident buyers of residential property in our cities," Mr Andrews told reporters in Perth.
"I was told here this morning of instances where one family bought numerous houses, doing that by using the names of different family members on the contracts.
"This is forcing up the housing prices for young Australians. It's meaning that Australians who go to auctions now or other ways of buying property are finding it much more difficult to get into the market."
Houses bought for capital gains purposes were sitting empty in Australia in some cases, Mr Andrews said.
"It's totally inappropriate. It came about because the Rudd government changed the rules last April and the exploitation of these changes in the rules is to the disadvantage of many Australians," he said.
Labor's response to the housing crisis for first homebuyers will probably determine the outcome of the next election as we are likely to take this issue to the next election and make our voices heard.

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