Despite the drastic fall in Significant Investor Visa applications; from 1108 between January and June 2015 to nine since July 2015; property developers do not anticipate negative impact on the housing construction boom in the country.
The revised Australian SIV program, which is very popular amongst Chinese investors, offers permanent residency in Australia in lieu of minimum investment of $5 million. The recent changes in investment norms included restrictions in direct investment in residential properties in the country. There are fears that the visa norms combined with restrictions on export of currency from China could hit demand.
Property developers point out that investment immigrants prefer purchasing independent homes in expensive suburban areas of big cities like Melbourne and Sydney and rarely opt for condos or apartments.
Data released by Immigration Department indicates the extent of impact of the new rules on demand for Australian SIV negatively. Even state governments, which are required to sponsor applications to the federal government under the SIV program, have seen a fall in demand. Under the earlier version of the SIV, the Victorian government was receiving around 30-40 applications per month.
This rose to more than 50 per month as more investors sought to apply before the new rules came into force in July 2015. In fact, demand for the SIV in the first half of 2015 was more than double the applications received in the second half of 2014. In the 3-4 months since its introduction, Victoria has nominated just 22 applicants under the revised SIV program.
However, many immigration agents point out that it is natural for demand to fall after the rush that was witnessed earlier in the year. They opine that such numbers cannot be considered as a true reflection of Australian’s investment immigration programs amongst wealthy investors.
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Source: afr.com