Sydney investors and Chinese buyers look to Melbourne for cheaper apartments: REA's Nerida Conisbee

Sydney’s investors are still keen to buy apartments, just not necessarily in Sydney, Nerida Conisbee, chief economist at realestate.com.au suggests.

Her recent analysis on the most searched-for new apartment locations by Sydney property seekers showed that inner-Sydney Alexandria was the most searched location.

The No 2 ­location was the Melbourne CBD.

With the exception of Alexandria, the Victorian capital is far more popular among Sydney buyers than any other Sydney suburb.

After Alexandria and the Melbourne CBD, the most searched-for suburbs for new apartments by Sydney-based property seekers were inner-city Waterloo, Parramatta in the west, and the middle-ring northern suburb of Macquarie Park, all in Sydney.

"The simple fact is, prices for apartments in Sydney are far higher than in Melbourne or ­Brisbane," Conisbee noted.

The median for apartments in Sydney is now $735,000 compared with Melbourne at $550,000 and Brisbane at $398,000.

"The majority of investors and first-home buyers tend to be very price sensitive, so much so that it’s very difficult for us to tell the difference between the two groups on the website when ­analysing their behaviour.

"A price ­differential of more than $150,000 can make a big difference as to whether a first homebuyer or ­investor can afford to buy or not.

"The other group that contributes significantly to demand for apartments in Australia is offshore buyers.

"Our monthly analysis of Chinese-buyer demand continues to show increases in property seekers from China ­looking to Melbourne and Brisbane.

"At the same time, demand for Sydney apartments among this group has dropped by 10 per cent over the past 12 months," she said adding offshore buyers are more likely driven by overseas students looking at alternatives to Sydney as a preferred place to study in Australia with the list of searched suburbs dominated by those close to universities.

In Melbourne, inner-city Carlton makes the list, while in Brisbane, St Lucia, the home of the University of Queensland features heavily.

The only Sydney location to rank is Westmead, in the city’s west, home of the Westmead Clinical school, a favourite among Indian property seekers.