澳洲房价上涨是中国炒房团惹的祸?

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.

随着澳大利亚房价上涨、中产购房者被推到房地产市场边缘，该国政界和媒体正在寻找中国富人阶层炒高澳大利亚房价的证据。

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.

澳大利亚众议院经济委员会(Economics Committee)主席、自由党议员奥德怀尔(Kelly O'Dwyer)周一接受美国广播公司(American Broadcasting Company, 简称：ABC)采访时表示，该委员会将着手调查外国人在国内房地产市场的投资是否导致了国内房价上升、使中产购房者买不起房。

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.

上个月公布的政府报告显示，在截至2013年6月份的12个月里，中国投资者花了将近60亿澳元（合54亿美元）购买澳大利亚房产。汇丰(HSBC) 2月份发布的一篇报告称，澳大利亚是中国人最大的海外房地产投资目标。最近瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)发布的一篇报告预计，未来七年中国涌入澳大利亚的投资总计将达到440亿澳元。

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.

中国对澳大利亚房地产的投资已成为一个敏感话题。澳大利亚政府公布，澳大利亚新建住宅有12%都被中国买家买走，他们所抢购的主要是悉尼和墨尔本的房产。这些城市的一些住宅区块业主100%是中国人。

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《悉尼先驱晨报》(Sydney Morning Herald)希恩(Paul Sheehan)在内的评论员已拉响了警报，指出澳大利亚购房者在养老金计划与中国投资潮之间腹背受敌。

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.

不过，根据澳大利亚政府机构外商投资审核委员(Foreign Investment Review Board)的数据，虽然中国人在澳投资房地产的增速很快，但在375亿澳元的澳大利亚房地产外资投资总额中的占比不到六分之一，2013财年的澳大利亚房地产外资投资总额实际上较上年有所下降。（去年美国和加拿大投资者分别投资44亿澳元和49亿澳元。）另外，外国购房者在澳大利亚只能购买新建住宅，这意味着很多中国人所购买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.

奥德怀尔说，她最担心的一个问题是中国投资者并不打算真正居住或出租，只是想把钱放在澳大利亚的房地产市场。

'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.'

她在接受电台采访时表示，她认为令人担心的问题是住宅楼是否会被空置；政府是否能履行最初的使命，最终向澳大利亚其他投资者和房主提供可以购买的住宅。

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

反对党领袖Bill Shorten对澳大利亚媒体表示，他欢迎政府的这种调查。

'On something as hot button as housing we need to make sure that...the 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.'

他说，对于像房地产这种敏感问题，我们需要切实保证，房价不会单纯地被投资因素推高。另外，政府应当优先保证澳大利亚中产购房者不会买不起房。