Chinese investors reportedly with $1 million cash in suitcases to buy Sydney property

Chinese investors reportedly with $1 million cash in suitcases to buy Sydney property
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

"Have you ever seen a $1 million in cash," a Sydney estate agent asked the quite surprised 2GB Money News broadcaster Ross Greenwood on his show last night.

"I can't think that I have," was Greenwood's reply.

"It's intoxicating, you can't keep your eye off it" the undisclosed agent advised.

The claim coincided with the unveiling of a federal government FIRB property buying consultation paper, with proposed measures designed to restore confidence in a foreign investment review system that had not prosecuted anyone for breaching the rules since 2006.

The agent said he came from an undisclosed suburb heavily populated by people of Chinese origin and also a destination for Chinese investors. Property Observer gathers it may be riverfront inner west Sydney.

"They come in weekly with literally suitcases with a $1 million, $2 million in cash," the agent told Greenwood, who had the agent's identity checked, but not revealed on air.

"The one thing they say is we don't need a bank, we can settle in two weeks."

Asked whether they were buying new or established homes the agent said: "Anything."

"It is happy days for me as I am an agent, but for my kids, your kids and the listener's kids, they have no hope."

Asked how they are getting around the rules, the agent said they respond 'you don't have to worry about that.'

One buyer told him the cash came from camper van trailer factory back in China, when his questioning met his curiosity and obligations regarding excessive cash transactions.

Ross Greenwood wondered how the money gets through Australian customs.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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