Indonesians buy Australian apartments
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)