Foreign investment in Australian properties surged as much as 75 percent in 2014-2015 to a record $60.75 billion, reports OPP Today (13 April 2016). This means that around a quarter of new developments in Australia were funded by overseas investors. Charles Pittar, CEO of Juwai.com, says the rise in demand shows the influence of buyers from China, which has risen from less than one-tenth to more than one-quarter of all of foreign real estate investment in Australia since 2012. “Anyone who bought a new apartment last year should probably thank a Chinese offshore buyer. Because Chinese are more likely to buy off the plan and give developers the reassurance they need to start construction, new dwelling approvals have been well above their long-run average at least since 2015,” said Pittar.
