Westpac crackdowns on property buyers, including foreigners with Australian visas

Acquiring property in Australia just became harder for both locals and foreigners. Just a month after Australian lenders clamped down on foreign property buyers, especially Chinese, Westpac says on Wednesday it would crackdown again on foreign and local property purchasers.

The second round of tighter rules on borrowers is due to the pressure from banking regulators for lenders to improve the quality of their loan book because of the squeeze on profits by lending and regulatory costs. Westpac would announce to customers on Saturday the changes.

The Australian Financial Review says the changes aim to prevent the use of dubious income sources for property loan applications. Westpac would also place tougher controls on foreign buyers even if they have Australian visas.

Previously, Westpac, and its subsidiaries Bank of Melbourne and St George Bank, targeted only home loan investors and buyers from overseas when the banking giant introduced changes a few months ago. Westpac said in April it would stop lending to all property buyers who are from outside Australia, but the move did not dampen Chinese demand for Australian properties.

The Westpac announcement comes at a time that two major Australian banks reveal that more parents serve as guarantee for the home loans of their children, Sydney Morning Herald reports. The observation by Westpac and National Australia Bank confirms previous report that climbing up the property ladder, from renters or freeloaders on their parents’ homes to homeowners, has become more difficulty for young Australians.

The two lenders, which belong to Australia’s big 4 banks, explain the rise of the “bank of mum and dad” to escalating cost of houses in Sydney and Melbourne. Even becoming renters is more difficult with the Rental Affordability Index in Melbourne indicating that rent takes a bigger chunk of income.

In June 2016, the top five most affordable postcodes in Greater Melbourne logged from 17 percent to 19 percent share of rent on income. It was 17 percent in Cambellfield, 18 percent for four areas belonging to the postcode 3337 (Melton, Melton West, Toolern Vale and Kurunjang), 3200 (Frankston North and Pines Forest) and 3797 (Gladysdale, Gilderoy, Yarra Junction, Powelltown and Three Bridges).

But in Dandenong, Dandenong East, Dandenong South, Dandenong North, Bangholme and Dunearn – all from postcode 3175 – the share of rent on income is 19 percent. On the opposite end, homes in postcodes 3126 (Camberwell East and Canterbury), 3187 (Brighton East), 3207 (Port Melbourne and Garden City), 3193 (Black Rock, Black Rock North and Beaumaris), 3186 (Brighton and Brighton North) and 3206 (Middle Park and Albert Park) are the most expensive with rent as a share of income ranging from 34 percent to 40 percent.