The strength of the Aussie dollar

The strength of the Aussie dollar means, in the words of one commentator that ‘for the first time in living memory for Australians, the rest of the world is on sale’.  But that’s not particularly good news for domestic real estate.

Over the past few months we’ve seen a distinct lack of overseas buyers coming through our doors.  It appears the strength of our dollar has achieved what Federal Government changes to the FIRB rules could not. 

The FIRB changes were introduced in response to a perceived influx of cashed up Chinese buyers pushing the prices of domestic real estate out of reach of locals.  However in November last year I commented that the FIRB changes, which had been in place for six months, did not seem to have stemmed the interest of overseas buyers. 

But now with the strong Aussie dollar those overseas buyers are nowhere to be seen.

It’s not the end of the world because the majority of our sales have always been to locals but obviously the disappearance of a segment of potential customers obviously makes it harder.  That’s especially the case at the premium end of the market which was so attractive to Chinese buyers looking for a base or investment in Australia.

Of course the strong Aussie dollar is also impacting investment decisions of local buyers with many taking the chance to expand their property horizons offshore.

That makes the high-end sales harder to achieve but I remain optimistic that when Summer finally does arrive so too will buyers enticed by the prospect of living beside the magnificent Sydney Harbour!