- Enquiry runs roughly 50/50 between local buyers and overseas buyers (ACproperty data, 2026).
- About 80% of overseas Chinese-buyer enquiries already have a relationship with Australia — children here, friends here, a past visit, or a visa in progress (ACproperty data, 2026).
- Overseas buyers typically research for three to six months before they act; local buyers move much faster.
- Demand is spreading well beyond Sydney and Melbourne — into Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, lesser-known suburbs and coastal areas.
- Most enquiry begins on WeChat and Chinese-language channels, not on the domestic portals.
Are Chinese buyers still active in Australia in 2026?
Yes. The demand did not disappear; it changed shape. The public record makes the scale plain. The ATO’s foreign ownership register links about 67% of foreign-owned residential properties acquired between 2016 and 2024 to mainland China (ATO Foreign Ownership Register, 2024). FIRB data names China the largest single source country, approved for $3.4 billion in residential purchases in 2022-23 (FIRB Annual Report 2022-23). Governments do not build that much machinery — registers, surcharges, and a foreign-purchase ban — around a market too small to matter.
What we see in our own enquiry confirms it. The volume held through the policy changes of 2025. The 2025 ban narrowed one part of the market, offshore buyers and established homes, but the broader audience kept enquiring. The buyers did not leave. The way they buy changed.
Local or overseas — who is actually enquiring?
Both, in roughly equal measure. In our own data, enquiry runs about 50/50 between buyers already living in Australia and buyers overseas. That balance matters, because most marketing assumes “Chinese buyer” means an offshore investor. Half the time, it means a local one.
The two halves are not separate markets, either. A local Chinese buyer routinely forwards a listing to family back home, so a single campaign reaches both sides at once. Reach one, and you often reach the other.
Do overseas buyers really have no connection to Australia?
This is the finding that surprises people most. Around 80% of our overseas Chinese-buyer enquiries already have a relationship with Australia. Their children are studying or living here. They have friends or family here. They have visited and want to live here. Or they are waiting on a visa.
So the “distant offshore speculator” is the exception, not the rule. Most overseas enquiry comes from people with a real reason to be connected to this country — which is also why the foreign-buyer ban matters less than the headlines imply. Someone searching from overseas without a visa today may be applying for one, or may have a child here who can buy in their own name. The person searching and the person who signs are not always the same.
How long do buyers take to decide?
It depends where they are. Overseas buyers usually take three to six months. They research, narrow down, share options with family, and often plan to arrive in around three months. Local buyers, already here and actively looking, move much faster, and often faster than local Anglo buyers once they have done their research.
That overseas timeline has a clear implication for developers. A three-to-six-month research-and-arrive window lines up almost exactly with an off-the-plan launch and settlement timeline. It makes overseas buyers one of the best-matched groups for new projects — they are buying ahead, which is what off-the-plan asks of a buyer anyway.
Where are they buying now?
Further afield than they used to. Local Chinese enquiry once clustered in the capitals and the well-known Asian-focused suburbs, places like Box Hill, Glen Waverley and Chatswood. That has spread. We now see strong local enquiry in lesser-known, more traditionally Anglo suburbs, and even coastal areas like the Mornington Peninsula. Buyers are chasing lifestyle, not a list of Chinese amenities.
This shift has a knock-on effect worth understanding. As local buyers discover new areas, they pass that taste on to family and friends in China. Locals effectively pioneer the next wave of overseas demand. The geography is widening across cities too: Sydney and Melbourne still lead, but Perth, Adelaide and even Canberra are increasingly picked up. For agents and developers outside the two biggest cities, that is a real opening.
Where do these buyers search and enquire?
Not on the domestic portals, at least not first. More than 80% of the buyer enquiry on our platform arrives through WeChat, often before the buyer has opened an Australian portal at all. WeChat carries around 1.41 billion monthly users (Tencent, Q3 2025), and for Chinese-speaking buyers it is where listings are shared, discussed in family chats, and decided on. The major Australian portals serve the local market well, but a Chinese-speaking buyer usually begins on a Chinese-language or bilingual platform.
What does this mean for agents and developers?
For agents: stop treating this as a niche offshore segment. Half your potential Chinese-buyer enquiry is local, most of the overseas half is connected to Australia, and almost all of it begins on channels your standard campaign does not reach. The opportunity is in being visible there, and in not writing off a buyer because of a headline.
For developers: the overseas buyer is your natural fit. New builds and off-the-plan are the part of the market open to foreign buyers until 30 June 2029, and the three-to-six-month research window matches the way off-the-plan is sold. This is a buyer group that suits the product, not despite the rules but because of them.
About this report
This report combines ACproperty’s own enquiry and distribution data — drawn from 15 years and thousands of Australian listings marketed to Chinese and international buyers — with public data from the ATO, FIRB, Tencent and QS. ACproperty figures are directional and based on platform observation across our network; public figures are cited to their source. We refresh this report regularly as the data moves.
Common questions
Are Chinese buyers still buying Australian property in 2026?
Yes. Both local and overseas buyers remain active. The 2025 foreign-purchase ban narrowed one part of the market — offshore buyers and established homes — but the wider audience kept enquiring. The ATO and FIRB record China as the largest foreign source, and our own enquiry volume held through the policy changes. Demand did not disappear; it spread to new cities and new buyer types.
Are most Chinese buyers overseas investors?
No. In our data, enquiry runs about 50/50 local versus overseas, and around 80% of the overseas half already has a connection to Australia — children here, friends here, a past visit, or a visa in progress. The faceless offshore investor is the exception, not the rule.
Can foreign buyers still purchase under the current ban?
Yes, with limits. The ban (1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029) applies only to foreign persons buying established homes. New builds and off-the-plan stay open to FIRB-approved buyers, and permanent residents, New Zealand citizens and spouses of Australians are unaffected. Many overseas buyers are also on a path to residency or have family here who can buy in their own name.
Where are Chinese buyers looking beyond Sydney and Melbourne?
Increasingly Perth, Adelaide and Canberra, and beyond the established Chinese suburbs into lesser-known and coastal areas. Local buyers are pioneering these areas first, then passing the interest to family overseas.
Why does WeChat matter so much in this market?
Because it is where these buyers research and decide. More than 80% of enquiry on our platform comes through WeChat, frequently before a domestic portal is opened. A listing not present in Chinese-language channels is largely invisible to this audience.
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