Foreign Currency Home Loans

Residential property investor’s located overseas whose primary income is foreign currency may consider purchasing Australian residential investment property using an Australian currency loan or a foreign currency loan.

If you are living in Australia and earning Australian dollars this product is not available.

Foreign currency loan pre-approvals are possible.

To commence a foreign currency home loan enquiry this quick home loan enquiry form can be used or Ability Finance can be telephoned on +61 2 8002 4035 Sydney, Australia or fax + 61 2 8002 4036

Lenders available through Ability Finance can finance Australian Property purchases in either Australian dollars AUD, Hong Kong dollars HKD, United States dollars USD, Singapore dollars (SGD), UK Pound Sterling (GBP) New Zealand dollar (NZD) and Euro (EUR) denominations.

Foreign currency home loans are available to Australian expatriates and foreign investors residing in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Middle East, USA, UK, New Zealand and Europe who are interested in investing in Australian residential property. See the list at bottom of this page for other countries from where foreign currency finance may be possible.

Benefits of a foreign currency home loan are that borrowers can match their loan repayments to the currency in which they are earning. Foreign currency home loan borrowers can secure foreign currency home loans using standard residential property in Australia.

Additionally investors approved for a foreign currency home by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) loan may borrow up to 100% of the value of a new property provided additional security is available, redraw back up to the original loan amount can often be made available and borrowers may switch between currencies and substitution of security is also available where Australian security property is used.

Foreign Currency home loans are available as principal and interest type repayments over 1 - 30 years or interest based over 1 -15 years. Interest based loans need to be renegotiated at the end of the period.

Foreign currency home loan Repayments can be either made by TT or direct transfer. A remittance advice is sent to the customer outlining the payment amount due and then the customer is able to send the repayment amount via Telegraphic Transfer (TT) or Direct Transfer from their overseas bank as per the instructions on their remittance advice.

Reductions to the loan principal are permitted without any additional charge provided such repayment is made on the scheduled instalment date with at least 10 days prior notice given. Principal repayments at any other time still requires at least 10 days notice to the Bank and may incur break-funding costs in some circumstances.

Foreign Currency home loan borrowers may also redraw prepayments subject to the bank's approval and a redraw fee applies to each approved request.

Foreign currency home loan borrowers also have the ability to switch between the following currencies:

Australian dollar (AUD), Hong Kong dollar (HKD) and United States dollar (USD)
Australian dollar (AUD) and Singapore dollar (SGD)
Australian dollar (AUD) and British Pound Sterling (GBP)
Australian dollar (AUD) and New Zealand dollar (NZD)
Australian dollar (AUD) and Euro (EUR)

A foreign currency home loan can also be split to create an additional loan. For example half the loan could be in AUD and the other half of the loan could be in USD.

When a foreign currency loan is denominated in Australian dollars, (AUD) the maximum loan to value ratio for amounts less than $750,000 (AUD) is usually 80 percent but may be subject to variation at times.
A maximum loan to value ratio of 75 percent applies to loan amounts equal to or greater than $750,000 (AUD) that are denominated in AUD and all loans in foreign currencies. Normal maximum loan to value ratios for specialised securities are discounted by 5 percent. For example, serviced apartments with a floor area less than 50sqm will usually have the maximum loan to value ratio reduced from 70 percent to 65 percent. Once again all loan to value ratios may be subject to variation at times

The list of approved countries from which we are now able to consider non-resident and foreign currency home loan applications for the purchase of Australian residential property has recently been expanded to include Austria (subject to certain conditions), Ireland, Bahrain, Japan, South Africa (subject to Exchange Control regulations), Belgium (subject to customer being informed that they may have a potential liability to pay Withholding Tax in Belgium and they must seek their own advice in that regard), Kenya, Sweden, Bermuda, Korea, South Korea, Brunei, Kuwait, Switzerland, Canada, Latvia, Tahiti, Cayman Islands, Lebanon, Thailand, China, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Denmark, Malta, Trinidad & Tobago, East Timor, Mauritius, Turkey, Falkland Islands, New Caledonia, United Kingdom, Fiji, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, France, Norway, USA, Germany, Oman, Vanuatu, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Hungary, Philippines, Iceland (subject to Withholding Tax Exemption), Qatar, India, Russia (subject to conditions), Indonesia, Samoa, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq (lend in AUD only) and Singapore.