Foreign investors to shape property market in 2014: Report
International property investors will increasingly influence the Australian property market in 2014, according to a property research and investment firm.
“The influence of foreign investors purchasing residential property in Australia is having an increasingly pronounced impact,” Neil Smoli, managing director of Aviate Group, said in the company’s property market outlook for 2014.
“The relatively simple path for overseas investors to purchase property in Australia can be expected to come under further scrutiny, particularly given the falling number of first home buyers in the market at the moment.”
The report also pointed to larger-scale foreign investment and said this may help to keep interest rates low.
“Of particular interest will be the rumoured entry to Australia of certain major Asian banks, which could be expected to move aggressively into our market and potentially keep the rates offered by the major Australian banks in check,” Mr Smoli said.
Mr Smoli’s sentiments echo comments made by Propertyology’s Simon Pressley at a Smart Property Investment roundtable, hosted late last year.
Speaking at the event, Mr Pressley said the actions and economic growth of Asia will increasingly drive the Australian economy and property market.
“I’ve got a fascination with the ‘Asian Century’. If you want to make money, you need to study the ‘Asian Century’ because it’s massive. You’re talking 2.5 billion people entering the middle class between 2010 and 2030,” he said.
“Australia has pretty much everything they want. Understanding what they want, and the process they need to get it, directly relates to jobs in this country. Where there’s a job, there’s demand for accommodation.”