Australian property developer Crown Group Holdings, which has residential projects in Sydney, continues to remain upbeat despite a hike in stamp duty in New South Wales last month. On July 9, the group launched for sale the remaining units at two of its mixed-use developments in Sydney — V by Crown Group in Parramatta and Oasis by Crown Group in the suburb of Ashfield.
The NSW state government recently slapped a 4% stamp duty surcharge on all new-home purchases by foreigners from June 21. Next year will see an additional 0.75% land surcharge tax on all foreign purchases.
NSW is the second Australian state to introduce additional stamp duty on foreign home purchases in an effort to cool the market. In July last year, the state of Victoria introduced a 3% stamp duty surcharge, which was increased to 7% on July 1 this year.
Crown Group has launched its own hotel brand. The first hotel will be V by Crown Group in Parramatta.
When the tax was introduced in NSW last month, sales slowed initially but has since picked up, says Julian Sedgwick, Crown Group’s global head of sales and marketing. “Foreign buyers have come to accept stamp duty surcharges as the norm — they have seen it introduced in other major cities such as Hong Kong, London and Singapore,” he notes.
In the one-day launch in Singapore, Crown Group offered 60 units at V by Crown for sale. The units are a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, with prices from A$486,000 ($493,000). The remaining 15 units at Oasis by Crown Group, also comprising a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, were offered for sale from A$680,000.
More than 50 people were said to have attended the one-day seminar and exhibition. According to Sedgwick, two buyers had expressed interest in purchasing two-bedroom units at V in Parramatta and a third buyer had indicated interest in a two-bedroom unit at Oasis.
Crown Group is not depending solely on foreign purchases for its projects. In fact, 70% of its buyers are Australians and only 30% are foreigners, with half from China and the rest a mix of Singaporeans, Indonesians and Malaysians.
Meanwhile, Crown Group has also diversified into the hospitality business to grow its recurring income through investment properties. It has launched its own hospitality brand called Skye Hotel Suites, with the first property located within the 29-storey V in Parramatta. The serviced apartment project contains 72 units with a mix of studios and one- and two-bedroom suites, and is expected to open in early 2017.
A second serviced apartment project is planned for its Infinity by Crown Group mixed-use development located at Green Square in Sydney’s CBD. The mixed-use scheme will have 75 serviced apartments, 326 residences and a two-storey retail podium.