Singapore has bought almost $20 billion worth of Australian real estate in the last two years

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PHOTO: Singapore

Singapore is now the second-largest buyer of Australian real estate, only trailing the United States.
The city-state has spent nearly $20 billion worth in the last two years.
It has eclipsed China over the same period, led by investments from large developers and its sovereign wealth fund, GIC.

Known colloquially as the Little Red Dot, Singapore is well and truly punching above its weight when it comes to Australian real estate.

In the two years to July 2020, Singaporean investors bought up $19.3 billion worth of Australian property, according to the latest Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) data.

To put that in perspective, Singaporeans spent $6.1 billion more over that period than China, despite its economy being around 44 times smaller.

It comes as Chinese investment actually declines, according to Georg Chmiel, co-founder and chair of Asian real estate platform Juwai IQI.

“Singaporean real estate investment has climbed significantly, while China’s has fallen,” he told Business Insider Australia. “Most big Chinese corporate investors have pulled back from Australia, while those from Singapore have doubled down on the lucky country.”

It sees Singapore make up 17 cents of every foreign dollar spent on local property versus just 13 cents from China. In fact, the country of just 5.7 million people spent more on local real estate than any other country with the exception of the United States.