Overseas interest in Aussie properties has surged to record levels as migration hits highest point in three years.
Searches from overseas for properties to buy and rent on realestate.com.au last quarter reached their highest level since PropTrack records began in 2019.
Rental property searches in the past three months are up 34% on the same period in 2019, and searches to buy properties are up 29%.
Where the demand is coming from
The countries with the highest searches for Aussie properties are New Zealand, The United States, The United Kingdom, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and India.
Top countries for overseas property seekers, looking for properties to buy on realestate.com.au
New Zealand has held the top spot for the past two years in terms of searches for Australian real estate, with rent searches up 37.5% on this time last year and searches to buy up 8.8%.
Demand from India has increased substantially in the past 12 months, with faster growth in both searches to buy and rent than other countries.
Arrivals from overseas in line with search activity
The increase in offshore searches for Australian rental properties has coincided with a sharp increase in student arrivals. In February, student arrivals hit 142,000, a 190% increase on February 2022, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Although March’s preliminary figure was a third of February’s number, it was still over 90% higher than March 2020.
Most-searched suburbs
As a whole, overseas searchers, whether looking for properties to rent or buy, favour the major capital cities, with Melbourne and Sydney topping the list.
However, the Gold Coast is also proving popular with overseas buyers and renters.
Source: Realestate.com.au – Overseas Search Report, Karen Dellow for realestate.com.au