Daily Buzz: Tuesday, 13 February

PropertyBuzz, your daily dose of property news.

Chinese buyers retain lead for foreign residential purchases, negative gearing is back in the spotlight, and what has sent the capital clearance rate soaring?

Welcome to Property Buzz! I’m Juliet Helmke. Today is Tuesday, 13 February.

– A new report reveals that Chinese buyers are the biggest cohort of foreign investors in Australian residential real estate, with almost half of the approved residential real estate investment proposals coming from the country.

– Over the September 2023 quarter, there were 1,374 residential real estate investment proposals approved by the government, worth approximately $1.5 billion dollars in total.

– The treasury’s report noted China was the largest source for approved residential real estate by both number and value – spending roughly $700 million. 

–  Investors from Hong Kong, Vietnam, India and Taiwan followed behind, all contributing approximately $100 million in value apiece.

– And questions have arisen about whether the PM will reopen the debate on negative gearing as the recently announced changes to stage 3 tax cuts have caused punters to ponder what other tax policies might be up for debate.

– Adam Bandt, leader of the Greens, is pushing for significant changes to negative gearing, announcing that the party will demand changes to the policy as the government negotiates to win their support for its ‘Help to Buy’ legislation.

– Independent senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie, and former New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet, have also made comments in recent days suggesting the topic was due for a revisit.

– But as recently as Sunday, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers shut down any speculation the policy was under review, stating categorically that it was not something the government was considering.

– Finally, last week’s auction market showed a definitive recovery from faltering auction figures in late 2023, with a capital city clearance rate of 76 per cent – the highest since June last year.

– Adelaide had the highest preliminary clearance result at 86 per cent, a significant increase from this time last year when it reached 70 per cent. Sydney also saw an 80 per cent preliminary clearance rate, the highest since October 2021.

– Melbourne had the highest number of auctions for the week with 618 homes hitting the block and a clearance rate of 73 per cent.

– In fact, few capital cities and sub-regions saw clearance rates drop below 60 per cent, with Canberra being the only capital city below this mark at 59 per cent. 

That’s Property Buzz for today. See you again tomorrow, 14 February, for your daily dose of Property Buzz.

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