OzFree Online Real Estate

Real estate agents say overseas-based bidders are more and more frequent at auctions around the country, with the consequential additional demand stoking already rising clearance rates and prices.
The strong Australian dollar has done little to cool overseas demand for real estate as foreign cash seeks out a lucrative home in the nation’s residential property market.

John Bongiorno, director of Marshall White & Co, in Melbourne said international buyers had typically made up 5 to 10 per cent of sales, a figures that had recently risen to about 15 per cent.  And the dollar’s rise had not yet dampened demand.

Mr Bongiorno said his overseas clientele was ‘‘predominately mainland Chinese”, some of which adopted a fly-in, fly-out approach to house hunting.

‘‘We have people who fly in on a Saturday morning for auctions and will fly out the same day,” he said. ‘‘They’ll just arrive in Melbourne specifically for the auction.”

Marshall White & Co has forged alliances with immigration services firms in China to promote local property.

Further north, the rising demand from Asia, especially China, is even more pronounced.

Tina Edwards, sales manager at Brisbane-based Yong Real Estate , which caters to local and international Asian buyers, said investment from China had ‘‘really soared recently”.

She said the surge may have peaked at as much of 90 per cent of the transactions handled by the firm, with the Aussie dollar’s recent jump above 90 US cents (about 6.2 yuan) deterring some buyers.
But Ms Edwards also said temporary lull may also reflect the shortage of suitable properties to sell after a period of sustained demand.

Real estate agents credit the overseas demand as contributing to rising home prices, which have increased nationally 8.1 per cent in the first nine months of the year, according to the RP Data-Rismark Index released today.