Golden Week holidays are important but less than they were in the past, suggests Carrie Law, the CEO of Juwai.com.
The Chinese international real estate website said Golden Week has an impact on Chinese international real estate buying, but it is overstated by marketers.
Golden Week is a week of public holiday in China during the first week of October where families go travelling domestically and internationally.
“As Chinese have begun to travel more often and be more sophisticated about their destination countries, they may buy overseas property during any month of the year,” said Ms Law.
“October is customarily an above-average month for Chinese buying inquiries, in part because of the National Day holiday. In 2016, October inquiries were up 7.2% compared the average month.
“November is even more dependably an above-average month. We find that many people come home from travelling overseas and go online to look at properties for sale in the place they visited.
“In November of 2016, Chinese international real estate buying inquiries were up 21.4% over the average that year. In November of 2015, they were up 6.4% over average. And in November of 2014, they were up 10.1%.”
Sam Guo, multi-award winning sales agent from Ray White Broadbeach, says Australia remains a popular destination for Chinese buyers who are buying eagerly regardless of the time of year.
“September has been quite busy compared to July and August,” Mr Guo said
“I have sold seven properties this month, six of them to Chinese buyers. That’s the highest percentage ever – I have sold a lot to Chinese people but usually the split is 50/50 to Australian buyers.”
Mr Guo is the number one sales performer in Ray White Queensland and has sold more than $100 million in property in the current financial year.
Lifestyle and climate is the greatest appeal for Chinese buyers, Sam says, and some of them migrate from overseas or are already living in Victoria or NSW.
Sam believes the government tax has deterred Chinese buyers, hence the slowdown in July and August, but ultimately the appeal of Australia outweighs the extra cost for the buyers.
“They weigh up both sides: yes it is an extra cost but they like the country and the lifestyle.
Australia is very close to China and in the same time zone with only a two hour time difference.”
“I haven’t heard from people that they don’t want to buy.”
“In fact I’ve heard the total opposite. My clients say since they’ve bought a house from me and they have more friends who want to come too. Initially they thought the taxes and stamp duty is too expensive, but they stay for a month or two and see that people are still buying.”
