Buying Property in Australia
Foreign investors in Australia require approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) to purchase real estate in Australia. Any person who is not classified as a permanent resident of Australia is classified as a foreign investor.
One exception to notifying FIRB of an investment is the acquisition of developed commercial property that does not comprise an accommodation facility, residential component or vacant land and is valued at less that $AUD 50 million (for US sourced investments the threshold is $AUD 800 million). Additionally, developers can secure approval for new developments allowing them to sell up to 50% of the individual dwelling units to foreign persons, who are then not required to separately seek foreign investment approval.
Approval process
The focus of Australia's foreign investment policy is to
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increase the supply of new housing
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minimize market speculation.
Typically foreign investors will receive approval to purchase:
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vacant land where construction is scheduled to begin within a year
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existing residences for redevelopment as long as this will increase the supply of housing and the house remains unoccupied during redevelopment
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units, townhouses and house/land packages in new developments; purchased before, during, or after construction as long as they have never been occupied and no more than 50% are sold to foreign investors.
Typically foreign investors will not received approval to purchase established homes that have been previously occupied; unless that can prove they intend to become permanent residents.
Prior approval is required and may take as long as 30 days. Do not sign real estate purchase contracts, unless the contract is conditional on such approval.
Tony Braiser, tony.braiser@COLLIERS.COM
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