Asian investors keen on Australian inner-city units: Peter Chittenden

Asian investors are particularly active purchasers of Australian residential property. They are probably our most active buyers, consistently, when it comes to apartment living.

There are a couple of reasons Asian investors like Australian apartment projects. Firstly, as a demographic, this buyer group likes apartment-style living.

They are very educated on the benefits of being located close to amenities, recreation, education, transport and employment.

They don’t like long commutes, with their playground being local parks, restaurants and the like.

In Australia, we design our apartments in many shapes and sizes to suit many demographics.

In terms of the type of buyers who target Australian projects, apartments are generally more suited to investors than owner-occupiers.

There are low vacancy rates in all our capital cities, and this type of unit is easy to maintain. Where you get apartment buildings that contain more than 100 apartments, generally owner-occupiers tend to shy away, they go for more boutique-style developments.

This kind of project is generally always located in a capital city transport hub – they primarily serve to take up rental market demand.

Asian investors who target Australian property predominantly come from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The next tier of investors come Indonesia or Malaysia, but we also get quite high demand from India.

These buyers generally already reside in Australia, they are first or second generation and are looking to get into the property market.

Overwhelming, however, the majority of our buyers are from China. Overall, the Chinese are generally well travelled and knowledgeable about world activities.

They are bullish on Australia because they have the benefit of being able to compare regions, they can appreciate how good our market is.

Things are only going to get more expensive over time, and this buyer group understands that – they understand that property investment is about long-term growth, and they can see the future potential in Australia.

We greatly admire their bullishness.

For more on the allure of Australian property to Asian buyers, download our free eBook. The eBook is also available for free download in Chinese.