AUSTRALIA: Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) crackdowns on purchase of homes in Australia by certain temporary visa holders

Increased FIRB screening and compliance measures, including a hotline and a pilot monitoring system, have been introduced to ensure that temporary visa holders comply with FIRB requirements. Statistics show 15 real estate transactions were prevented by FIRB and a further 73 proposed residential real estate purchases have been voluntarily withdrawn in the last 9 months.