Can Overseas Buyers Buy My House? Australia’s Foreign Buyer Rules to 2029 in Plain English

Last updated 26 September 2026 · By Esther Yong

Most overseas buyers can’t buy an established house in Australia right now. Since 1 April 2025, foreign persons — including temporary residents such as students and workers on visas — have been banned from buying established homes, and the ban has been extended to 30 June 2029. Australian citizens can still buy wherever they live, and permanent residents and New Zealand citizens can buy while they live in Australia.

This is one of the questions private sellers ask us most, and it’s easy to see why. For years the story was that overseas money was everywhere in Australian property. The rules have quietly changed the answer, and it matters for who you should be marketing to.

This is general information, not legal advice. For your own sale, speak to your conveyancer or solicitor.

What exactly is the foreign buyer ban?

From 1 April 2025, the federal government temporarily stopped foreign persons from buying established dwellings in Australia. An established dwelling is simply a home that has already been built and lived in — which describes most houses and apartments sold privately. The ban was originally set for two years. The Australian Taxation Office, which enforces it, has confirmed it has been extended and now runs until 30 June 2029.

“Foreign persons” includes people who aren’t Australian citizens or permanent residents and don’t normally live here, temporary residents living here on a visa, and foreign-owned companies. A student on a visa who has lived in Melbourne for five years is, for this purpose, still a foreign person.

Who can still buy my house?

More people than the headlines suggest. Australian citizens can buy regardless of where they live, including Australians working in Shanghai, Singapore or London. Permanent residents and New Zealand citizens who live in Australia are exempt. Spouses of Australian citizens, permanent residents or New Zealand citizens are generally treated as exempt when they buy jointly. There are narrow exceptions for investments that significantly increase housing supply and for workers under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, but these rarely apply to a typical private sale.

In practice, the Chinese-speaking buyers who can purchase an established home are those already in Australia with citizenship or permanent residency, plus Australian citizens living overseas. That’s a large group. At the 2021 Census, more than 685,000 people spoke Mandarin at home and around 295,000 spoke Cantonese.

What about new homes and off-the-plan property?

The ban covers established dwellings. New dwellings and off-the-plan property have always had their own foreign investment rules, and foreign persons can generally still apply for approval to buy new homes. That’s a developer’s market rather than a private seller’s, but it explains why you’ll still see overseas buyers active in new apartment projects.

Whose job is it to check whether a buyer is allowed to buy?

The obligation sits with the buyer, and the penalties — which can include forced sale and substantial fines — fall on them. As a seller, you don’t need to interview buyers about their visa status. It’s sensible, though, for your conveyancer to make sure your contract handles foreign investment approval properly, and to be alert if a buyer mentions they’re on a temporary visa. A sale that can’t legally settle is a wasted month.

What does this mean for how I market my home?

It shifts the question from “how do I reach buyers in China?” to “how do I reach the Chinese-speaking buyers who already live here?” Those buyers are eligible, often well-funded, and frequently search in Chinese before they ever open an English portal.

That’s why ACproperty’s private-seller campaign leads with local reach. About 60 per cent of the buyers searching ACproperty are already in Australia. Your listing appears in Chinese on ACproperty.com.au and WeChat, where those buyers look, alongside your existing listing on the major portals. The international distribution still reaches Australian citizens and permanent residents living abroad, who remain free to buy.

The rule change didn’t remove Chinese buyers from the market. It made it clearer which ones matter.

Related questions

Can a Chinese student on a visa buy my house?

Not an established home while the ban is in place. Temporary residents, including students and temporary skill visa holders, are foreign persons under the rules, and the ban on established dwellings runs until 30 June 2029.

Can an Australian citizen living overseas buy my house?

Yes. Australian citizens are not foreign persons, wherever they live, so the ban doesn’t apply to them.

Can permanent residents buy established homes?

Yes. Permanent residents and New Zealand citizens who live in Australia are exempt from the ban and can buy established homes.

How do I reach Chinese-speaking buyers who live in Australia?

Publish your listing in Chinese where they search: Chinese-language portals, WeChat and RedNote. Read how to sell your house to Chinese buyers in Australia, or, if your listing has gone quiet, what to do when a private sale isn’t getting enquiries.

Sources: Australian Taxation Office, “Banning foreign purchases of established dwellings”; Foreign Investment Review Board; ABS 2021 Census.

Esther Yong is the founder of ACproperty.com.au, Australia’s leading Chinese property portal. She has spent 15 years connecting Australian real estate with Chinese buyers locally and internationally.