Not sure if it is true, my Australian friend told me that locals will generally not buy a new apartment in Melbourne, they think that it is overpriced and aimed at foreigners. Also, if they really want an apartment, they will buy resale from foreigner since they know they can knife 'bua lai lai' to wait for a low price since foreigners can only sell to Australians or pr. And australians priority is still to buy a big landed house for family.
Depends on who you talk to. Sometimes, the danger about listening to so-called "friends", acquaintances, the man in the street or newspaper reports is that they present a very biased views of things. It's very easy for us to listen to a native speak and then take it to be representing the whole truth.
Take Singapore as a very good example. There are many citizens here who are dissatisfied with things here. I know several people who complain they want to migrate if they can. They complain about overcrowding, trains breaking down, etc. If a foreigner who knows nothing much about Singapore is to ask one of these unhappy Singaporeans, the response might be: "Don't come to Singapore. Everything is expensive. A small car costs $100k. Trains are crowded and can break down easily. Jobs are unstable...." The foreigner will go back to his country and report in some typical forum: Singapore is a sucky place. The subway trains are unreliable and I heard one Singaporean tell me they are experiencing overcrowding now. What cost us $25k for a car, they are paying 4 times the amount!
BUT... we all know the whole picture about Singapore is not fully painted. Quite the opposite, investors love the country. Foreigners love to settle down in Singapore long term for the economic stability and opportunities available.
On my side, if you ask me, I say I will never buy a condo in Singapore. It's small, too expensive, and simply not worth it, especially when compared to HDB flats which these days have modern designs. Moreover, many condos are built just beside HDB flats these days with no special views. So why pay so much for it? We need bigger space which condos cannot provide. More than 80% of the population live in public flats! Condos are for foreigners to "play with".
A foreigner who hears me say the above will report back: Don't invest in Singapore private properties. I heard from a native say Singaporeans don't buy condos. They prefer their public housing called "HDB flats" which are almost equally as good and so much larger and cheaper. They will rather buy them for their families. Condos are for foreigners.
Is the above true coming just from me?
