FOREIGN BUYERS INFLATING PROPERTY MARKET IN AUSTRALIA

MELBOURNE, March 27 (Bernama) -- Foreign buyers are a factor in rising house
prices, said Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Glenn Stevens.

He said the bank was monitoring how much the Australian government's
decision last March to relax its rules on foreigners owning property had
contributed to surging prices for housing.

"The role of foreign purchases was an important one and it's one we're
giving some attention to," he said.

RBA has raised official interest rates four times, with rising house prices
helping to tip its hand at its meeting this month.

The Age has reported on a trend of overseas investors buying Melbourne real
estate to safeguard wealth and advance hopes of migration.

Australia's Treasurer Wayne Swan eased restrictions for those on temporary
visas, such as business owners and foreign students, to allow them to buy any
home to live in, land to build on or new dwelling for investment purposes.

Real Estate Agency Marshall White said buyers from mainland China and Hong
Kong kick-started Melbourne's prestige property market last year and still
accounted for a third of its sales.

Sales executive Michael Liu, who was hired by the agency to deal with
overseas buyers, said a few streets in the eastern suburbs of Kew and Balwyn
were now 80 per cent Chinese-owned.

"They want to send their children to the best schools and think property
here is cheap compared to the big cities in China, where you don't get
freehold ownership over land, just a 99-year lease," he said.

Malaysian-born agent, Julie Wai Leng Karl, said it was becoming important to
have multilingual agents in the housing business.

"There is a growing population of Chinese customers in Melbourne and other
parts of Australia, and when we're talking about buying or selling something
as important as a home, they need to know what they're in for," she said.

-- BERNAMA