Plus Agency’s real estate agents Fiona Yang and Peter Li sell to many global investors. Photo: Sam Ruttin
Australia has become the most popular destination for Asian property investors, despite recent government moves to tighten regulations on foreign buyers.
A recent report from global real estate technology group Juwai IQI declared Australia to be the “epicenter” of a surge in cross-border transactions by Asia-based buyers post-pandemic.
This means Australia has surpassed the US and Canada to become the market with the most buyer inquiries.
The report says the country’s large intake of immigrants helps it attract the attention of foreign investors.
This comes as Foreign Investment Review Board statistics show Asian-based investors without Australian residency status spent $5.1 billion on property Down Under in the first nine months of 2023. I received what was done to me.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Francisco last year. Photo: Reuters
Investors based in mainland China accounted for just under half of the spending, pumping $2.5 billion into Australian real estate over the period.
The next largest investments were in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam, each with a total of $300 million spent in three quarters.
Juwai IQI co-founder and group managing director Daniel Ho said Australian property’s high rate of return – prices have risen 42% in the past four years – was a key attraction for foreign investors. .
Other attractions include proximity to Asia, economic stability, and high quality of life.
The Melbourne CBD has historically been the most popular Australian market for overseas investors. Photo: David Caird
Under current regulations, foreign buyers without residency rights can only buy new construction and are subject to higher tax rates.
Juwai said Australia continued to receive strong interest from Asian investors this year, despite the federal government’s announced moves to reduce net overseas immigration.
Australia remains the top choice for investors in several Asian countries, based on buyer inquiry volume in the first quarter of 2024, according to the group’s report on cross-border residential real estate purchases in the Asia-Pacific region. Ta.
This includes investors from Hong Kong, mainland China, Malaysia and Thailand, the four Asian countries with the highest number of cross-border buyer inquiries over the three-month period.
A woman walks past the complex in Beijing owned by China’s heavily indebted Evergrande Group. Photo: Greg Baker/AFP
“Australia welcomes large numbers of international students and immigrants each year, contributing to the creation of new purchasing demand,” the report said.
According to ABS figures released last week, net overseas migration in the 2023 calendar year was at an all-time high of 547,200. This exceeded the previous record of 433,100 in 2022.
Mr Ho noted that most Asian-based buyers were purchasing Australian property for a combination of personal use and investment purposes.
“Most buyers in Asia are not pure investors,” he says. “They understand that an Australian home is probably a safe investment, but in reality they are buying somewhere they want to live.
“They are education buyers, migrants and second home buyers. They want to study, work and live in Australia, or visit family members who are doing so.”
Mr. Daniel Ho, co-founder and group managing director of international real estate company Juwai IQI. Photo: Attached
Ho said educational opportunities are the main driver of foreign purchases, especially among Chinese buyers.
“My estimate is that probably about half of the transactions for Chinese buyers involve family members who are in Australia because they are studying or have graduated,” he said.
The Juwai report said overseas demand for Australian property could weaken as the federal government places further restrictions on international students in an effort to reduce immigration.
In May, the Albanon government announced legislation that would cap the number of international student arrivals starting in 2025.
Plus Agency’s real estate agents Fiona Yang and Peter Li sell to many global investors. Photo: Sam Ruttin
Peter Li, general manager of Sydney and Shanghai property group Plus Agency, said property purchases from foreign buyers often preceded moves Down Under.
“The majority of Asian buyers in Sydney are looking to spend around $2 million,” he said.
“If they can afford it, they want a duplex, a house, anything with a Torrence title on it, so they’re not really interested in strata townhouses or apartments.
“I would say 80 percent of them are owners. They’re buying to live there now or in the future.”
