Chinese buyers are getting ready to flock back into Australia’s ‘cheap’ property market – with one city emerging as their clear favourite
Chinese have ranked Australia as their number one destination to buy property, with 27% of tourists telling Chinese portal Juwai they’ll consider buying a property on their next overseas trip.
Of the Australian cities, Melbourne was ranked by almost half of all Chinese buyers as their top pick. Sydney and Brisbane, with Brisbane singled out for its more affordable market.
After a couple years of declining Chinese activity in the market, renewed interest could lead to a boom in prices, with the depreciation of the Australian dollar securing an 11.1% discount for Chinese buyers.
Of the 1.2 million Chinese tourists visiting Australia every year, as many as a quarter could be looking to buy a property here, a new study has suggested.
As many as 27% of mainland Chinese said they would be shopping for a property on their next overseas holiday, according to a survey by property portal Juwai. Of those, Australia is their number one international destination to buy, as rocketing enquiries set up a possible resurgence in foreign buyer activity.
“Chinese buyer enquiries have posted two consecutive quarters of year-on-year growth for the first time since 2016,” the report said. “In the first quarter, Chinese demand was up 40% compared to a year earlier. That followed a 54% gain in the fourth quarter.”
As they begin to consider a return to Australian shores, however, one city is shining brighter than the rest.
“Melbourne is the most popular city for Chinese buying enquiries in Australia. Chinese buyers make 83% more enquiries about acquiring Melbourne property than they do Sydney,” the survey noted.
In fact, more than four in 10 buyers rank Melbourne as their top Australian destination, compared to less than a quarter for Sydney. Brisbane is also quickly climbing the ladder claiming more than 10% of the Chinese market. However, there’s a number of smaller further afield destinations that Chinese are increasingly looking to buy.
