Drawbridge closing on illegal foreign buyers

Wednesday 18 November 2015

If there’s one thing the Coalition Government has done right since coming to office, it is the cracking down on illegal foreign investment into Australian real estate.

In 2008, in a bid to keep a floor under house prices in the wake of the GFC, the former Labor Government insidiously removed the requirement for temporary residents to notify the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) of all residential purchases.

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.