Foreign buyers spent a whopping $5.3 billion on Australian residential properties in just nine months, new Federal Treasury figures show.
Foreign investors bought more than 4,700 homes across Australia in the first three financial quarters of 2023.
Of these, 1,955 homes, valued at $2.5 billion, were purchased by Chinese investors, with Hong Kong buyers paying around $300 million for 400 of them.
Vietnamese buyers purchased 259 Australian homes in that period, while Taiwanese buyers snapped up 272 properties.
The Treasury registry has not yet published figures for the last three months of 2023, but the trend of high spending by foreign investors is expected to continue.
Foreign buyers spent a whopping $5.3 billion on Australian residential properties in just nine months, new Federal Treasury figures show. John Symond’s Sydney Harbor mansion (pictured) is for sale for $200 million
Isabelle Lucas (pictured), from buyers agency Cohen Handler, said Sydney’s steadily rising house prices made it a good place for overseas buyers to invest.
One of the Hong Kong buyers paid around $17 million for the Lavender Bay mansion, owned by Rugby Australia president Hamish McLennan and his wife Lucinda, on Sydney’s north shore.
The shocking figures were released just as Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond put his Wingadal mansion up for sale.
The luxury Sydney Harbor property is expected to fetch $200 million and could be the next Australian property to fall into foreign hands.
Cameron Kusher of PropTrack Economic Research said those looking to get onto the first rung of the property ladder would not be affected by overseas sales as most of them go into expensive, very high-end homes.
He said the properties they are purchasing are “out of reach for first-home buyers”.
A Hong Kong buyer paid around $17 million for the Lavender Bay mansion (pictured), owned by Rugby Australia president Hamish McLennan and his wife Lucinda, on Sydney’s north shore.
“Australia is a popular destination for international investors, but these foreign buyers are not impacting the market,” Mr Kusher told the Daily Telegraph.
Isabelle Lucas, of buyers agency Cohen Handler, said Sydney’s steadily rising house prices made it a good place for foreign buyers to invest.
He said Sydney has a “very attractive lifestyle” and access to reputable schools is also a factor.
“Proximity to good private schools is definitely a trend we’re seeing at the moment among international buyers, something we’ve honed in on particularly in the eastern suburbs,” he said.