A million-dollar Hoppers Crossing property, bought by an Iranian investor, has been resold as a result of a federal government crackdown on illegal property deals.
The crackdown on foreign nationals buying into the Australian property market comes after evidence of widespread rorting of the federal government’s foreign investment rules.
Offshore buyers need government approval before buying properties, and also cannot buy existing homes.
The Hoppers Crossing house and land is among many foreign property deals not cleared by the Foreign Investment Review Board. It is among 15 Victorian and Queensland properties forced back onto the market recently after they were found to be in breach of the national investment framework.
Federal treasurer Scott Morrison said the forced sales underscore the government’s determination to enforce its rules.
In addition to forced sales, the tax office also issued penalty notices to the property owners found to have breached its rules, with 388 fines issued totalling more than $2 million.
Other homes in Melbourne’s west that were ordered to be sold include a $590,000 home in Rockbank owned by an Indian national, and a $240,000 home in Lara, which had been bought by a person from the United Kingdom.
