Chinese investment in Australian property to undergo 6-month drop-off: Expert

MELBOURNE — Chinese demand for Australian property has been tipped on Tuesday to undergo a temporary downturn.

Jon Ellis, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of real estate company Investorist, said that recently introduced stamp duty concessions and tightened bank lending would cause the drop in Chinese investment in Melbourne real estate.

A report compiled by Investorist, titled "China 2017 International Property Outlook," polled 120 Chinese real estate agents, and 83 of whom said they had sold property in Australia in the last 12 months.

However, only 47 of those said that they would sell in Australia in the next 12 months.

Ellis said Melbourne would be "hit hardest" of all Australian cities after concessions for buyers who purchased property off-plan were abolished but expected it would bounce back and again become the most popular city.

"The number one reason for Chinese buyers coming to Australia is education and Victoria still has some of the country's finest education institutions, University of Melbourne and Monash University are both held in extremely high regard offshore," Ellis told Australian media on Tuesday.

"The second reason is actually migration... I think Victoria stacks up very well from an education perspective and it's the most liveable city in the world.

"A couple of percent on tax won't change that over the long term, what it does is create a level of uncertainty in the eyes of the purchaser and their perceived value for money in relation to other cities."

He said that globally, Melbourne's biggest competitors for Chinese investment were Manchester in Britain and Miami in the United States.

Once the downturn stops and investment bounces back, Ellis predicted that the gap between Melbourne and Sydney as the most popular city for Chinese buyers would widen.