Can Australians invest in China

hi gtcoglan

back in the mid-80's i was told about an investment opportunity in shanghai – you could apparently buy units for around $4000.00 and rent them out to locals (yes four thousand) – the returns werent that good but the possibility of capital growth was there

however, like your friend noted, it isnt like Australia where every thing is legal and above board, you just didnt know who u were dealing with, wether every thing had been covered off and even then if after all of the requirements were covered, might they come back and simply repatriate it from you for some unknown (and unfightable) reason…

funny enough i checked recently and those apartments are now worth 500000.00 each… but i still think i made the right decision hehe
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Yes Aussies can purchase property in China, however if you are buying into a new building the developer must purchase a license which allows them to sell to foreigners.

Also keep in mind the all property here is state owned,  so your really only buying a 70 year lease  off the CCP, the idea behind this is to make sure there is no apartments empty in the long run, however you never know with such an unpredictable govt.

Personally In aus I am in the construction industry, my wife being chinese, we are here quite often, but I would hesitate to buy property here, mainly cause of the poor quality, ive seen several buildings develop  serious structural problems  even 1 building that wasn’t built safe enough and has been sitting vacant for several years.

There are several articles on the net that you can read about the Chinese property bubble, which also might be worth considering.

Hi all

I live in China, and made 80% of my money on the Chinese real estate market (and retired young as a result).

Anyone can buy property in China, although there are 2 laws governing foreigners:
1. you can only buy 1 property in total
2. you can only buy if you're in the country on a working visa, and have been in the country for at least one year on that visa

The first of these laws is not enforced (ie. it's possible to buy 1 apartment in each of China's largest cities), but the second is strictly enforced.

So unless you've been in the country for more than a year on a Z-visa, forget about China.

If you have though, then you may want to forget about China as well, simply because prices are so high.  They've gone up 5 times in Shanghai since I arrived in 2003: my apartment building where I first bought cost RMB8,000 a square metre in 2003, and now it's RMB40,000 (don't believe the government stats, because they want to dampen down the numbers).

If I HAD to invest more in China, I'd consider either the south (small cities like Beihai, Wanning or Qionghai), or the west (Lijiang, Xiaguan, Shangrila).

I'm not sure what the future of the Chinese market has in store.  One thing's for sure though: it isn't going to drop.  In 20 years time Chinese real estate will be worth more than every other piece of real estate on the planet added together.  Why do I say this?  Because there are some very powerful forces pushing up real estate, and I'm not just talking about the Communist Party, which owns all land and therefore has it in its interests to have high prices.  It's also cultural (men can't get married if they don't have a city house and a luxury car), and political (everyone only has one kid, so all those kiddies are going to inherit a lot and be very wealthy investors one day.

Despite being so optimistic about the future of China though, I still like the idea of buying low and selling high, which is why I'm now looking seriously at the US of A.

If you've been working in China (on a Z visa) for more than a year, you will definitely be given a mortgage (all the big banks will welcome you), but you must pay a 30% deposit, ie. the bank will lend you 70% of the total house price.  Interest rates will be the same as for locals: about 6%.