CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Chinese national, 百家姓, only got off the plane yesterday, but already he’s made $1200 out of the Australian property market.
As a member of the 13,823,233 people that make up China’s richest one percent, the 42-year-old investor says it’s hilarious that Australian Government lets him compete with their own citizens for family homes.
“I already own five” he laughs, in Chinese.
“I’m not even a citizen here. Sometimes I’m not even at the auction, I just send someone else and they put me on speaker phone”
When asked why it is of interest to him to own suburban houses in a country 10,000 kilometres from his home city, 百家姓 says it’s because the hysterical Australian property market is a fool-proof bet.
“This house will be worth 20 percent more in one year time. For now I just keep it empty. But I might hold onto it forever”
Local plumber, Bryce Moorely (33) was outbid by 百家姓 at the $1.5m mark. He says it’s very frustrating, as a working Australian citizen and a father of two, that he can’t even buy a house in the city that both he and his wife live and work in.
“We needed two incomes and two sets of parents helping out to even get us a deposit for this place” he said.
“But you don’t really stand a chance against a bloke like 百家姓”
However, Bryce’s Dad says sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.
“Do I feel sorry for my son and his wife missing out today? To a degree, yes.”
“But, we can’t just ban foreign investors from walking all over our property market and leaving hundreds of thousands of empty houses right across our cities”
“That would ruin by retirement nest egg”
“Do I feel sorry for my son and and his wife having to rent forever in a out-of-control property bubble on wages that have remained the same since the 1980s, while my age bracket are treating ourselves to a 50% increase in wages?”
“Not really. But that’s just how it is. Don’t forget, My generation never had it easy. ”
“These whingeing millennials just need to find a job that pays better than the top one percent of China”
