28 | LETTERS


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www.opp-connect.com | APRIL 2013 www.opp.org.uk | XXXX 2012 What do you think?


Tell us what you think about the latest news and what you would like discussed by joining our LinkedIn group, tweeting us @oppnews, emailing john.howell@opp-connect.com or writing us a good old- fashioned letter...


Wealthy Malaysians fi nd Melbourne a sound prospect Dear Editor,


As an agent in Melbourne, Australia, it is always welcome news to hear that the number of investors coming to the country is increasing. To hear that they are wealthy is even better, given that we specialise in elite properties.


Recent news has suggested that there are a growing number of Malaysians looking overseas for investment opportunities, with high-net worth (HNW’s) individuals making up a large proportion. While the majority are heading to London, many are also fl ocking to Australia, as both provide them with a level of familiarity. Some are also coming because their children are studying here, and others are buying as part of a retirement plan.


The number of Malaysians looking overseas is also on the up – they are making their way to markets where many Malaysians are already established. Tough competition, you might think, but this is not a big worry for us. Lifestyle is becoming more important amongst rich Asians, and this is a factor we prioritise in both our development and sales in Melbourne. Asians are already a large part of our buyer audience, and we believe that their loyalty will prevail in the face of any rivalry.


For me, this news comes as no surprise. Recent fi gures (January 2013) suggest that out of the 61% of visitors to Asia’s property websites looking to invest overseas, 26% had their eyes on Australia. Malaysians also favour the country as their overseas destination, whereas Indonesians and Singaporeans place it second.


Evidence also shows that Melbourne is their favoured destination (this is the best fi nding, in my opinion!) owing to aff ordability, pre-existing ethnic communities to buy into and the diverse education system. The multicultural label of the city


Best of the Blogs Too good to be true?


By Les Calvert www.property-abroad.com enquiries@property-abroad.com


In old English cities and towns, there’s the occasional sight of an older building with lots of windows, some of which have been bricked in. It’s a memorial of an ill-thought-out ‘window tax’ imposed in the 1600s, intended to be a form of progressive taxation. However much it was supposed to lead to richer people – with bigger houses – footing more of the tax bill, it really led to people bricking up their windowspaces to avoid paying. It’s called the law of unintended consequences. In China, a similar unintended consequence is leading to similarly peculiar


results – only this time, instead of fi lling in their windows, people are fi lling out divorce forms. Last Friday, China’s central government issued rules to rein in housing prices,


including a nationwide 20% capital gains tax on profi ts made from selling residential property. But the terms allow couples with two properties to sell them tax-free, under certain conditions; the hitch is that they must be divorced, with each property in one person’s name. It’s then allowable for the couple to remarry, according to Chinese state media. The Shanghai Daily, covering the story said one woman they interviewed was


stopping off to check in her divorce certifi cate at the registry in Shanghai before ‘heading over to the property trading centre this afternoon,’ though the woman


Sunny city |It’s easy to see why Melbourne is an attractive destination makes it more attractive to Asians.


It remains to be seen where Asian investment will expand in the future, but I have no doubt that their presence in the Australian market will be a prevalent one – along with their choice of Melbourne.


Laura Jameson


declined to be identifi ed. The Shanghai Daily also said those getting divorced that day included a pregnant woman. The paper quoted a harried offi cial as saying, ‘she told me she came here to


avoid the possible loss in a property transaction, and I could say nothing,’ and went on to state that divorces across the city had doubled since the ruling. ‘I told all of them to come here for remarriage registration’, the same offi cial went on. Several other Chinese cities, including Guangzhou in the south, north-eastern


Harbin and Ningbo in the east have also reported rising divorce rates after the tax was introduced. Sample calculations suggest that tens of thousands of dollars could be at stake


for some couples. Perhaps that’s why ‘they appear to be in good moods’ when they show up for divorce proceedings, as the Ningbo Daily Newspaper Group said. ‘More than half frankly said they wanted a divorce for the sake of property.’ The Shanghai Civil Aff airs Bureau confi rmed that there had been a rise in


divorces since the new tax came in, but declined to give a total for the city. It did say that couples were citing ‘lack of mutual aff ection’ as the reason for their separation. In a reversal of the state of aff airs in the West, particularly America where


couples stand to lose tens of thousands rather than gain them by divorce, in China it is a relatively straightforward procedure and is handled by local government offi ces rather than by the courts. But there’s more: in addition to wry comedy and irony, there’s also farce on


off er. Offi cials have pointed to the long-term rise in the divorce rate – up 7.3% in 2011 alone – and suggested some men might have more than one motive for heading to the divorce counter. He Zhanbiao of Shanghai’s civil aff airs bureau warned wives: ‘Some men might


trick their wives into getting a divorce using the tax as an excuse. But they might have a mistress and truly want a divorce.’


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