Can non-PR people buy houses and get loans in Australia

As the trend of interest rate cuts becomes more and more obvious, more and more people hope to seize this time to enter the Australian real estate market to buy property and invest. This includes not only local PR/CITIZEN who have obtained status, but also many non-PRs from overseas. People, and the two unavoidable questions are whether overseas people can buy a house in Australia and whether they can loan-930">get a loan in Australia ? The answer is of course yes , but compared to locals, Australia has a series of restrictions and requirements for overseas people in real estate purchases and loans . Understanding these regulations is crucial to successfully completing the home buying process.

 6 policy restrictions for non-PR overseas persons purchasing real estate in Australia

1. Non-PR can usually only purchase newly built properties (new villas, new apartments, etc.) or land (and develop and build houses) ;

2. Only temporary residents TR who meet the requirements can purchase second-hand houses for self-occupation . Temporary residents here refer to holders of visas that allow them to live in Australia continuously for more than 12 months , such as spouse visas, work visas and Investment immigrant visas , or most student visas , including some bridging visa holders;

3. Self-occupancy requirements for second-hand houses: Qualified temporary residents TR can only purchase one second-hand house as their main residence and cannot rent out any part of the house (single room, garage, etc.) when the property is no longer their main residence . When housing , the property is theoretically required to be sold ;

4. Government benefits related to first home ownership , such as First Home Owner Grant and Stamp Duty Exemption/Concession, are only available to PR/CITIZEN ;

5. Foreigners purchasing real estate in Australia require approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) . Foreign investors must apply to FIRB and pay certain application fees . FIRB will evaluate the application and decide whether to approve the purchase. The application fee is linked to the house price. The more expensive the house, the higher the application fee . The current application rates are as shown in the figure:

6. On the basis of normal stamp duty (Stamp Duty), non-PR home buyers may also have to pay a Foreign Buyers Surcharge . The current foreign buyers surcharge in New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania is The foreign home purchase surtax in Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia is 7 % of the house price . The Capital Territory and the Northern Territory currently do not charge foreign home purchase surtax. In addition, non-PR home buyers also need to pay additional land tax surcharge . The policies of each state are different. For details, please refer to our previous article.

  Guidelines for classifying loans applied by non-PR overseas persons

1. Work visa, investment immigration visa, etc., including 482 , 485, 489 , 491, 494, 132, 188 visa, etc. Mainstream banks including the four major banks can accept applicants holding such visas, loan policies, fees , interest rates, etc. are almost the same as PR/CITIZEN , but some banks may have application qualification restrictions for applicants : For example, applicants holding 485 visas, CBA and ING Bank require that they must apply for a loan together with PR/CITIZEN , while SUNCORP and LATROBE accept them to apply for a loan separately ; ANZ Bank requires that the current occupation of applicants holding 482, 489, and 491 visas must belong to the medium and long-term strategic skills list (Medium and Long Term Strategic Skills List, MLTSSL) ; There are also many banks that require applicants holding investment immigration visas to only use self-employed income ;

2. If you are the holder of a spouse visa , including 309 and 820 visas, etc., your spouse is PR/CITIZEN , then many banks are happy to accept such a combination of loan applicants, but most banks require applicants holding 820 visas to apply for a loan together with their PR/CITIZEN spouse , and will have restrictions on their main sources of income and their proportions. Certain restrictions - that is, the income of the PR/CITIZEN applicant must account for at least half ; some banks will also have additional restrictions on their loan ratio LVR ;

3. Student visas, bridging visas, etc., mainly 500 visas, as well as tourist visas and purely overseas people without visas. Currently, mainstream banks including the four major banks do not accept applicants for such visas, but there are many more Non-bank lenders of fund companies are willing to provide loans to such applicants, but the loan fees and interest rates will be significantly higher than those of mainstream banks; however, after obtaining PR, such applicants can still refinance to mainstream banks and enjoy the benefits of PR. /CITIZEN the same treatment.