N1 Finance, a mortgage brokerage based in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, has created the first Australian mortgage comparison site in Chinese. The site will offer rate comparisons for more than 30 lenders.
The brokerage says the website – www.chengdai.com.au – removes language barriers for Chinese speakers in searching and comparing lenders and offers a greater level of transparency with all relevant costs associated with every product outlined clearly.
Ren Wong, managing director of N1Finance says although educated local Chinese speakers comprehend English well, speaking in their first language was always going to be preferred, especially around complex financial matters such as home loans.
“In developing this website, we wanted to create a comprehensive solution. Many people are too busy to speak with multiple banks and each lender often has its own niche policy which requires research. This site makes this information accessible and offers a one stop research tool for Chinese buyers looking for financing,” he said.
Wong says the he expects the website to initially attract 400 unique visitors per month, but is expected to grow quickly with approximately one million people from a Chinese heritage residing in Australia.
“We believe there is a huge opportunity for the website locally and will aim to capture an overseas audience over the long term but building out scale locally will be the key. We plan to do this through the websites unique platform which will offer property agents with Chinese clients incentives to refer customers through to the website,” he said.
“By partnering with property agents, our referral network increases but also offers those agents a solution to offer their Chinese clients a simple solution for financing and removing the language barrier.”
According to Wong, Chinese investors will continue to seek investment opportunities in Australia, despite the potential fee foreign buyers may be charged to purchase Australian property.
“Property is more cultural than an investment practice for Chinese who buy housing at different life milestones including marriage, when children are born and when kids grow up.
“Given the close proximity of Australia to China, Australia will remain a relevant destination for Chinese investors as long as it remains an attractive place to live and tertiary education standards remain high on a global scale. Assessing Chinese investor demand of property by focussing purely on economic indicators or potential fees is likely to be a mistake as non-monetary drivers can be just as important.”
