Chinese buyers are eyeing the Australian property market once again, hoping to pick up a bargain as house prices plunge during the coronavirus crisis, reports Australian Press Review (11 October 2020). Economists in a survey forecast Sydney house prices would fall 10.2 per cent by next year, Melbourne by 9.2 per cent. NAB and SQM Research also predicted that apartments in central Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane were expected to suffer from a fall in price, as border closures cut off international students and deprived landlords of potential tenants, Juwai IQI chairman Georg Chmiel said Australia's avoidance of large numbers of COVID-19 deaths had created an image of the country being a safe place to live in. "That makes it even more appealing to foreign buyers," said Chmiel. "Marketers in China are already using Australia's good performance to persuade parents of children who have been studying in the US and the UK to look at Australia instead." Chmiel said Chinese buyers particularly liked places near schools and universities.