澳洲房價上漲是中國炒房團惹的禍?

As housing prices rise in Australia, pushing middle-class buyers to the margins of the market, local politicians and media are finding a scapegoat in wealthy Chinese.

隨着澳大利亞房價上漲、中產購房者被推到房地產市場邊緣，該國政界和媒體正在尋找中國富人階層炒高澳大利亞房價的證據。

The Australian Parliament's House Economics Committee will investigate whether foreign investment into property in the country is driving up prices and making housing unaffordable for its middle class, Liberal MP Kelly O'Dwyer, the committee's chairwoman, said in an interview with ABC radio on Monday.

澳大利亞衆議院經濟委員會(Economics Committee)主席、自由黨議員奧德懷爾(Kelly O'Dwyer)週一接受美國廣播公司(American Broadcasting Company, 簡稱：ABC)採訪時表示，該委員會將着手調查外國人在國內房地產市場的投資是否導致了國內房價上升、使中產購房者買不起房。

The remarks came after a government report published last month found that Chinese investors spent almost 6 billion Australian dollars (US$5.4 billion) on real estate during the 12-month period ending in June 2013. An HSBC report published in February named Australia as China's No. 1 destination for overseas property. More recently, Credit Suisse released a report that forecasts a flood of Chinese investment -- to the tune of A$44 billion -- to awash Australia's shores over the next seven years.

上個月公佈的政府報告顯示，在截至2013年6月份的12個月裏，中國投資者花了將近60億澳元（合54億美元）購買澳大利亞房產。匯豐(HSBC) 2月份發佈的一篇報告稱，澳大利亞是中國人最大的海外房地產投資目標。最近瑞士信貸(Credit Suisse)發佈的一篇報告預計，未來七年中國涌入澳大利亞的投資總計將達到440億澳元。

Chinese investment in Australian real estate has become a touchy subject. The Australian government reports that Chinese money accounts for 12% of the purchases of newly built residences there, with the majority being snapped up in Sydney and Melbourne. Some apartment blocks in those cities are 100% owned by Chinese nationals, ABC says.

中國對澳大利亞房地產的投資已成爲一個敏感話題。澳大利亞政府公佈，澳大利亞新建住宅有12%都被中國買家買走，他們所搶購的主要是悉尼和墨爾本的房產。這些城市的一些住宅區塊業主100%是中國人。

Commentators like Paul Sheehan at the Sydney Morning Herald are sounding the alarm, writing that Australian homebuyers are caught 'in a pincer movement between superannuation and Chinese investment.'

包括《悉尼先驅晨報》(Sydney Morning Herald)希恩(Paul Sheehan)在內的評論員已拉響了警報，指出澳大利亞購房者在養老金計劃與中國投資潮之間腹背受敵。

But while the investment growth is impressive, Chinese money comprises less than one-sixth of the A$37.5 billion in foreign investment in Australian real estate -- a sum that actually dropped in the 2013 fiscal year from the previous year, according to the Foreign Investment Review Board, a government agency. (U.S. and Canadian investors poured A$4.4 billion and A$4.9 billion, respectively, last year.) Australia also limits foreign buyers to only newly built houses, meaning many Chinese buys are of condominium apartments that have yet to be constructed.

不過，根據澳大利亞政府機構外商投資審覈委員(Foreign Investment Review Board)的數據，雖然中國人在澳投資房地產的增速很快，但在375億澳元的澳大利亞房地產外資投資總額中的佔比不到六分之一，2013財年的澳大利亞房地產外資投資總額實際上較上年有所下降。（去年美國和加拿大投資者分別投資44億澳元和49億澳元。）另外，外國購房者在澳大利亞只能購買新建住宅，這意味着很多中國人所購買的是尚未建成的公寓。

Ms. O'Dwyer said one of her main worries is Chinese investors' habit for parking money in Australian real estate with no intention to actually live there or rent out the property.

奧德懷爾說，她最擔心的一個問題是中國投資者並不打算真正居住或出租，只是想把錢放在澳大利亞的房地產市場。

'I think what there's concern about is whether or not apartments are being occupied,' she said in the radio interview. 'So whether or not it's fulfilling the original mandate to provide additional dwellings that can be purchased, in the end, by other Australian investors and home owners.'

她在接受電臺採訪時表示，她認爲令人擔心的問題是住宅樓是否會被空置；政府是否能履行最初的使命，最終向澳大利亞其他投資者和房主提供可以購買的住宅。

Opposition leader Bill Shorten told Australian media he welcomed the inquiry.

反對黨領袖Bill Shorten對澳大利亞媒體表示，他歡迎政府的這種調查。

'On something as hot button as housing we need to make sure price is not being forced up for purely just investment reasons and, rather, there should be some priority given to making sure that the middle class of Australia can be able to afford to enter the housing market.'

他說，對於像房地產這種敏感問題，我們需要切實保證，房價不會單純地被投資因素推高。另外，政府應當優先保證澳大利亞中產購房者不會買不起房。