The Villa del Mare in Sydney’s exclusive Point Piper.

Foreigners buying Australian residential real estate must buy new dwellings, as strict criminal and civil penalties apply for breaches of the law including disposal orders.

The NSW government is also slugging foreign investors with a 4 per cent stamp duty surcharge when they buy houses or apartments, in a tax impost expected to raise more than $1 billion for the state’s coffers over four years. Victoria is increasing taxes on foreign purchasers from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, while Queensland is introducing a 3 per cent transfer charge on foreigners buying residential property.

In Sydney’s Point Piper, the $39 million Villa del Mare mansion was recently bought by a local after the federal government forced an earlier sale following its illegal acquisition by a Chinese company.

Meanwhile, the US government is expanding the order governing all-cash purchases of high-end homes via shell companies. In March, the Treasury Department required disclosure of the names of people behind anonymous limited liability companies, or LLCs, in all-cash real estate transactions in Manhattan in New York City and in Miami.

Treasury expanded the roster of cities to include Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and suburban counties nearby, San Antonio, all of New York City and two counties north of Miami.

The new “geographical targeting orders” will continue for six months. The goal, Treasury says, is to make it more difficult for buyers, particularly foreigners, to launder money through US property purchases. But some brokers predicted the new orders would have limited effect.

Additional reporting: The Wall Street Journal