Their real estate development boom is largely supported by Chinese investors. That is, buying into a Development Co. in AUS and having an Aussie run it.
In Sydney I counted 50+ cranes earlier this year. Will the demand for X amount of new towers continue? Will buyers support it or become Miami 2.0? How many empty condos are there in Miami right now?
They are also very prideful about the state of their economy.
Because Sydney barely had apartments until recently. Cross the bridge and it looks like a country village 3km from the city. Not many development sites and houses are very tightly held so it's tough to acquire houses for demolition and agglomeration into a development site. If Sydney is going to be a real city it needs the development that's happening now.
I've also noticed cranes here are used for midrise apartment block construction which I'd never see for comparable building in the US. There's a lot of safety rules and a strict building code so maybe that's why.
Do you have any data to support the claim that "Their real estate development boom is largely supported by Chinese investors"? My interpretation of that statement is that you are saying it is the most significant factor. I would certainly agree with you if you were to have said "...is supported by Chinese investors."
From the article regarding cranes: "According to the Rider Levett Bucknall Crane Index, in Q4 2017 between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, there are now 586 cranes in operation, with a total of 685 across all capital cities, 80% of which are focused on building apartments. There are 350 cranes in Sydney alone."
From the article regarding Chinese investment:
"Foreign investment across all countries into real estate as a whole was the largest sector for foreign investment approval at $112 billion, accounting for around 50% of all FIRB approvals by value and 97% by count across all sectors - agriculture, forestry, manufacturing, tourism - you name it in 2015-16."
And:
"Around $32 billion invested in real estate was from Chinese investors in 2015-16, making it the largest investment in an industry sector by a country by far."
Yeah, I understand that Chinese investment in Australian real estate is significant - I'm questioning whether or not it is the most significant factor driving the real estate boom. I've always assumed cheap credit and tax incentives for locals were the most significant factors.
Ah, apologies, I misunderstood. I don't recall seeing anything usefully quantified in the article about the effects of tax incentives, though there was a comment somewhere there about negative gearing, quoting David Llewellyn-Smith:
"This tax policy allows more than one million Australians to engage in a negative carry into property in the hope of capital gains. In a nation of just 24 million, 1.3 million Australians lose an average of $9,000 per annum on this strategy thanks to the tax break".
As to determining which is the most significant factor, I will leave that to those with far greater understanding of the area than mine.
Not a hugely accurate measurement method but it's definitely clear that Chinese investment crossed a threshold sometime this year, because I'm starting to notice property developers advertising including Chinese (I'm pretty sure most of what I've seen has been in Mandarin but I could be mistaken.) along side the English. It's not the norm yet, but it's definitely a troubling sign of how significant the overseas investment has grown.
In Sydney I counted 50+ cranes earlier this year. Will the demand for X amount of new towers continue? Will buyers support it or become Miami 2.0? How many empty condos are there in Miami right now?
They are also very prideful about the state of their economy.