Mirage Villas are Approved for Foreign Purchasers

Port Douglas Mirage Villas have an incredibly rare zoning which allows them to be sold to foreign purchasers at any time. They have automatic approval from the F.I.R.B. (Foreign Investment Review Board).

This is due to the zoning which is Integrated Resort. The Mirage Port Douglas was the first such resort in Queensland to be granted this zoning. The development approval included a large hotel and integrated resort together with marina, retail and commercial areas.

An integrated tourism development or resort is defined  as 'a development that holds a mix of accommodation, recreation and commercial facilities that has been planned and constructed by a single developer on single or adjoining sites within a well-defined area. The development would normally include a hotel or hotels that supply a substantial amount of the total accommodation, as well as extensive recreational facilities such as swimming pools, gyms, sporting facilities within the boundaries of the resort. Integrated developments might also host commercial zones for retail, restaurants and entertainment facilities.'

Special rules for foreign purchases of dwellings in an Integrated Tourism Resort (ITR) category were introduced in 1991 to enable tourism developers and large hotel operators to sell residential dwellings within a development to foreign persons without the need for foreign persons to seek individual foreign investment approval. The exemption only applied to resorts that were designated as ITRs by the Government and were designed to support the financial viability of tourism developments. In September 1999 the Government made changes to this exemption category and has since made changes to the foreign investment framework. The Government has not designated a new ITR in around 10 years.

Integrated tourism resorts designated before September 1999

The following resorts were designated as integrated tourism resorts before September 1999:

• Mirage Port Douglas Resort, Port Douglas, Queensland
• Hamilton Island Resort, Whitsunday Passage, Queensland
• Hope Island Resort, Hope Island, Queensland
• Hyatt Regency Resort, Coolum, Queensland
• Kooralbyn Valley Resort, Queensland
• Laguna Quays Resort — Stage 1, Repulse Bay, Queensland
• Palm Cove Travelodge Resort, Queensland
• Royal Pines Resort, Ashmore, Queensland
• Sanctuary Cove, Hope Island, Queensland
• Joondalup Resort, Western Australia
• Wirrina Cove Resort, South Australia

Integrated tourism resorts designated after September 1999

The following resorts were designated as integrated tourism resorts on or after September 1999:

• Heritage Golf and Country Club, Chirnside Park, Victoria
• Hunter Valley Golf and Country Club Resort, New South Wales
• Kingfisher Bay Resort Village, Fraser Island, Queensland.

Having the ability to on-sell Mirage villas to foreign investors is huge. It broadens the market from a domestic one to the whole world. Typically foreign investors are governed to only buy new properties off the plan, or to build from scratch.

source: https://firb.gov.au/resources/guidance/gn16