Chinese prestige property purchase frenzy before July 1 stamp duty doubles in NSW
Chinese buyers are rushing to buy property in Sydney before the New South Wales stamp duty rises significantly for foreign investors on July 1.
The rates are set to double, moving from the standard four percent to eight percent.
The pre-July 1 activity appears centred on Sydney's east and upper north shore.
A Chinese family bought the Bellevue Hill mansion of Leslie and Kirsty Berger of the Berger family.
The property sold for over $6.5 million, which came with a four percent stamp duty of $260,000.
Another Chinese buyer has saved $260,000 on a Gordon trophy home, also bought for $6.5 million.
The buyer, a businessman in the food industry, paid $500,000 above the price guide to secure the highest price paid in the suburb this year.
It comes in second as the highest price paid in Gordon.
Under the new foreign buyer policy, land tax also increased from 0.75 percent to two percent, important when the home sits on a 3,700 sqm parcel.
Offered to the market for the first time, the grand three level family home has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a home office, wine cellar, gym, sauna and wet bar.
A tennis court and 12 metre swimming pool sit in the landscaped gardens.
Savills Cordeau Marshall's agents Craig Marshall and Michelle Placks sold the home.
Marshall said the tax hike would deter some foreign buyers.
Darren Curtis, of Christie’s International, on Tuesday night sold a Wahroonga residence on 2850 square metres at 10-12 Woodville Avenue for more than $7 million.
The now Bellevue Hill based insurance lawyer Michael Pitt and his wife Debra have sold their BKH-designed residence in Vaucluse for $14.5 million to a 34-year-old from China, Qianzhen Tang, ending a year-long sales campaign.
The upper north shore house price record has been toppled by the sale of Warrawee trophy estate, Springfields for reportedly about $12 million.
The buyer, originally from China, may have faced an additional $480,000 surcharge depending on their residency status.