The Chinese billionaire owner of the $39 million Villa del Mare mansion in Sydney’s Point Piper is close to selling the home to an Australian buyer.
The Australian understands that contracts are being exchanged on the opulent estate — which Treasurer Joe Hockey controversially forced its owner to sell in March — with a sale imminent.
With Mr Hockey approving the home’s transfer to an Australian citizen, the deal is expected to be finalised within days.
Chinese businessman Hui Ka Yan bought the mansion in October last year, through Christie’s International Real Estate agent Ken Jacobs and LJ Hooker Double Bay agent Bill Malouf.
With foreign buying of homes becoming a hot political issue as house prices continue to surge, Mr Hockey forced the owner to sell it.
He said it had been “illegally purchased” without approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board and gave its owner 90 days to dispose of the property.
It is the first time since 2006 that a treasurer has used FIRB rules to enforce a sale of a foreign-owned residential property.
Mr Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, is chairman of Chinese conglomerate Evergrande Group. He bought the property in October through his company Golden Fast Foods, which ultimately is owned by Evergrande.
With Joe Kelly
This article originally appeared in The Australian.