good news for the property bears

this might put a twinkle in your eyes....what if it happened over here in this country too, ie a deposit of 40% rather than 30%....I like their rates at 2% though....no wonder people are prepared to pay more.....
ps I wonder would our 60,000 wage earners, then opt for a million dollar house...if interest rates were 2%...and the median average price was a million, rather than the 540.000
or whatever it is now......................
have we heard whispers in OZ of asian buyers pricing the locals out of the market ???
a small extract from the article............

CONCERNS about a growing bubble in Hong Kong's high-end property market pushed central bankers here to increase the required down payment on luxury homes to 40 per cent, from 30 per cent.

Bubble risks: High rise buildings stand in the central district of Hong Kong. Picture: Bloomberg
The new measure, which goes into effect immediately, applies to properties valued at $HK20 million ($2.8 million) or more, part of an attempt to tamp down an overheated sector that has alarmed regulators and set off a wave of populist anger.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city's de facto central bank and main banking regulator, said that luxury-home prices already had exceeded Hong Kong's historical peak in prices, in 1997.

While property prices in much of the rest of the world continue to languish, prices in traditionally volatile Hong Kong have been on a tear this year, thanks in large part to low interest rates and a wave of liquidity from mainland China, where Beijing last year unleashed a four trillion yuan ($636 billion) stimulus.

Economists attribute much of Hong Kong's property run-up to mainland Chinese, and developers say that mainland Chinese customers now account for as much as 40 per cent of new home sales.

Last week, one major local developer said it sold a luxury condominium to a mainland Chinese buyer for $HK71,280 per square foot, spurring fears that mainland Chinese buyers were pricing local home buyers out of the market.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26259837-36375,00.html