Are prices in Australia pushed up by the Chinese? Do Chinese buy many houses in Australia? The issue has been debated all the time. Chinese buying new homes in Sydney and Melbourne are Australia`s leading overseas investors, according to the annual report of Australia`s overseas Investment Review Board (Foreign Investment Review Board,FIRB).
Of a total of 41445 applications approved by the FIRB in 2015 / 16, most were related to residential and real estate, the report said.
Total approved overseas investment rose 55 billion to A $248 billion, driven mainly by real estate investment. China is the largest source of overseas investment, accounting for 47.3 billion. Of that, A $31.9 billion went to real estate investment.
FIRB received a significant proportion of its applications (33045) for less than A $1 million, of which 30611 were approved for Chinese buyers.
The United States is the second-largest source of overseas investment (A $31 billion), with approvals for services, real estate and finance.
The Australian government has recently introduced a series of policies aimed at curbing investment in Australian property by overseas investors, but some commentators say these policies are impractical. On the other hand, the government is developing new policies to help first-time buyers.
