Latest NewsExpats boost property market from afarFriday, 04 December 2020

 

Cashed-up expats who have returned home or those still overseas but wanting a back-up plan in case the pandemic worsens are boosting the property market in pockets of Sydney.

Buyer's agents say business has picked up significantly with Australians living overseas turning to them as a local intermediary to find them somewhere to live.


Expat Veronica Iacono lives in Abu Dhabi with her family but bought a house in Sydney as a back up plan.

COVID-19 had made people think about their lives and what was most important to them – and having a base in Australia had become high on the priority list, said Sydney buyer's agent Michelle May.

"The Aussie dollar has been relatively weak, which means if you are borrowing in Australia and earning foreign dollars that's a very good combination, added to the fact interest rates are very low," Ms May said.

She said expats were not worried about the tax implications of owning a property in Australia while living overseas.

"Most are getting a good wage so they are willing to cop that on the chin," she added.

Preliminary findings of a survey by Advance, a platform that connects Australians around the world, found about one in five of Australia's expat community had already returned home in 2020, and 30 per cent of those were planning to stay.

For Veronica Iacono, who lives with her family in Abu Dhabi, the pandemic was the impetus needed to buy a family home in Sydney, despite having no immediate plans to return.

The writer-producer and her husband, Kyle, had been looking on and off for years, but they began searching in earnest in July, and after engaging Ms May bought a house in Gladesville in September.

"We've been expats for nearly 10 years with no fixed plans to return to Australia but COVID really did put things into perspective for us. If things go bad, because we are in the Middle East and you can never be sure of what's going to happen in the world, Australia is a safe place to be, so it really did give us that push," Ms Iacono said.

Ms Iacono said Abu Dhabi had been relatively insulated from the pandemic – face masks were mandatory and children were attending school.

"It's life 2.1. It's the new norm. Everyone is very careful, there are no big gatherings, it's a different sort of life but like everywhere else we are moving on as best as possible."

Sydney is starting to see a stronger recovery at the top end of the market with prices in the upper quartile increasing by 0.6 per cent in November compared with 0.3 per cent in lower quartile values, CoreLogic says.

Current value gains in the premium market are more substantial than those at the more affordable end of the spectrum, but the top end recorded significantly larger drops in home values during COVID.

Buyer's agent Lauren Goudy said expats returning from Asia were particularly prevalent in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

"They are in the higher end of the market – looking for family homes of more than $2.5 million. The demographic is they have children who are just starting high school and they've made the decision to return to Australia at this time because of the pandemic."

"They are one of the many factors boosting the market. It's the loosening of lending conditions, the shortage of stock and people who had been holding off for the last six months are getting back into the market, which is creating that bigger buying pool," Ms Goudy said.

 

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