Chinese investors were approved to spend AUD6.07 billion in 2018-19 on Victorian residential real estate, putting them behind purchasers from the US (AUD19.56 billion), Canada (AUD13.3 billion), Singapore (AUD9.8 billion) and Hong Kong (AUD9.33 billion), reports News.com.au (8 May 2020). According to leading international property website Juwai IQI, Chinese investment in Victoria plummeted since 2016 because Australian banks stopped lending to Chinese buyers. However, non-bank lenders are now willing to finance the Chinese and Victoria's eight per cent stamp duty is now more attractive compared to Singapore's and Canada's 20 per cent tax. As such, Chinese buyers had been mounting a comeback in 2020, with Melbourne as their No. 1 Aussie target. Property portal Juwai IQI saw enquiries for Victoria's real estate increased 50 per cent every month in the second half of 2019. "The data shows Chinese buyers are back," said Juwai IQI executive chairman Georg Chmiel.
