With offices in Chatswood, Epping and Castle Hill, Tracy is at the hot centres for the thriving Chinese real estate market, which shows no sign of slowing down.
Taiwanese-born Tracy and her staff, which includes son Danny and husband Oliver, are the premier Chinese real estate agency in Chatswood, where most of the action is.
Yet she has only been in Chatswood for about three years, having started in Epping 12 years ago.
“When I started in Chatswood, there were only small Chinese-speaking agencies so we were the first of the larger agencies,” Tracy said.
“In Epping, I was one of the first Chinese real estate principals.”
In those days, around 1999 with the influx of Hong Kong Chinese, buyers were looking at Epping, Carlingford and Cherrybrook before the wealthier ones discovered Chatswood.
The attraction of Chatswood is the modern apartments, closeness to the city, good transport links and the shopping.
“Chatswood has become a little China, with its food and shopping. It keeps growing. I estimate that Chinese buyers make up about 90 per cent of the apartment market in Chatswood. There are buyers who buy more than one apartment, one to live in and the others to rent out.
“These wealthy buyers own factories and other businesses in mainland China.”
Apart from buyers, Chinese developers were behind some of the major developments in Chatswood and other parts of Sydney.
Tracy said wealthy Chinese liked Australia because of our fresh air, education system, stable economy and friendliness of the people.
“Some businessmen send their wives and children here and travel between Australia and China, or sometimes older children are sent here to study,” she said.
Tracy came to Australia 34 years ago to study early childhood education but was soon attracted to real estate, starting off in another agency 17 years ago before branching out on her own.
With an enthusiastic staff of 40 across the three offices, Tracy has not looked back.
“My staff are like my family,” Tracy said. And that is just as well, seeing that she is in her Epping office before anyone else and is the last to leave.
Her son runs the Chatswood office with Tracy keeping a close eye on the lucrative north shore market
Chatswood charm
● Some Chinese buyers snap up 2-3 properties.
● One recently bought 25.
● Houses as high as $3.8 mill, apartments $2.5M.
● Prices climbed 20 pc over two years.
● Expected to stabilise but not drop.
