Foreign investment: new student visa rules tipped to charge up Chinese property buying

The Daily Telegraph

NEW relaxed visa regulations reopen the door for Chinese property investors, according to real estate experts. The new system, coming into effect on July 1, will reduce the existing eight student visa types to two Ñ one for students and one for student guardians. Chinese student renters are another channel for education to boost Chinese property investment, according to Esther Yong, director of ACProperty.com.au, an Australian property portal targeting Chinese buyers. With about 250,000 higher education visa holders in Australia, Ms Yong said most international students sought to rent while living here, and should not be overlooked by the market. Figures from ACProperty.com.au show that rental enquiries almost tripled over from last year and more than half of rental enquirers requested information on buying property within seven months. ÒIt is not uncommon for Chinese students to rent for the first couple of months when they first arrive, with a high intention to eventually buy a property,Ó Ms Yong said, adding that the strong sales potential of these students could help tackle a downturn in foreign investment caused by recent FIRB and bank lending restrictions.Popular suburbs in NSW included Chatswood, Campsie and Strathfield, which took out the top three most-searched areas for rental.