Chinese demand for loans lifts Aussie firm

Sydney

ALMOST a third of the home loans written in September by a mortgage provider part-owned by Macquarie Group were to Chinese investors, the chairman of the firm said.

Yellow Brick Road Holdings, 18.4 per cent owned by Macquarie, lent A$320 million (S$359 million) to Chinese investors out of a total A$1.1 billion in disbursements last month, Mark Bouris said on Tuesday in Sydney. The proportion of Chinese borrowers has doubled in the past year, he said.

Australian lenders and property developers are gaining from surging demand out of China, where the housing market is faltering. Chinese purchasers overtook Americans to become the biggest buyers of real estate in Australia in the 12 months through June 2013, plowing A$5.9 billion into commercial and residential property, a 42 per cent increase from the previous 12 months, accordin…