Indonesians buy Australian apartments
JAKARTA (JP): Twenty-one Indonesians bought units in a soon to be built Australian apartment building last week amidst concern that a large amount of foreign exchange have left the country.
"Out of the 31 units of the 'Pavilion on the Harbor' apartment building we offered to foreigners, 20 were bought by Indonesians and the remainder by Singaporeans," Kezia Tampi, a director of Mahir Wahyu Investindo, an associate of the Sydney-based Michael Williams Investments, which owns the building, told The Jakarta Post.
According to Australian regulations, only half of the apartments built in Australia may be purchased by foreigners.
The 62 units at the Pavilion on the Harbor, which will be built at Milsons Point with an overview of Sydney harbor, have sizes ranging from 54 to 210 square meters. They are sold at prices between A$178,000 to A$1.36 million and the construction will be completed by December 1995.
Tampi, who served buyers at the Grand Hyatt Hotel here last week, said a lot more people had shown interest in buying apartments than could be made available.
She said some bought as an investment, others as a residence.
Some want their children to use the apartments while they attend universities in Sydney, she said.
"I might send my son to school in Sydney and when he finishes school, the apartment will still be good for investment," said one man attending the sales exhibition at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
Leasing
Many buyers were also interested in the possibility of leasing, which, according to Tampi, will be "easy," given the fact that the site is near Lavender Bay and between two office buildings.
A unit with one bedroom, for instance, can be rented out at A$300 to $375 per week.
"We also offer very convenient and attractive financing," Tampi said, "but I think the Indonesians could have paid in cash if they wanted to."
The "attractive financing" includes bank loans of up to 80 percent of cost. Purchasers pay a A$5,000 reservation fee, then 10 percent down upon the close, which takes place three to four weeks after the reservation. When the apartments are finished, another 10 percent will be due.
The appointed bank for direct transfer is Bank Danamon.
Tampi said Sydney is an attractive site for Indonesians, as it is Australia's major financial city.
Furthermore, facilities to support the 2000 Olympics and an international casino will also be built by 1996, she said.
Procon Indah, an Indonesian property developer, actually has established an apartment building in Sydney, besides Perth. (anr)