The coronavirus could cause a Chinese stampede for Aussie property

PHOTO: Aussie property

There are reports that could cause a sharp rise of purchases for Aussie property by Chinese buyers.

I’m not surprised, if I were living in China at the moment I’d be pretty nervous about the coronavirus with the rate of infections and deaths.

According to the Australian Financial Review, the shutdown in China due to the coronavirus has caused a rush of Chinese buyers looking for a safe haven. The China property portal Juwai.com has seen a 300% increase in the number of enquiries for Australian property over the past week.

The AFR quoted a few property agents confirming that they had seen a large increase of interested buyers who are “desperate to buy”.

I’m not surprised that there’s a large increase of interest in Australia. Most Aussie cities are a long way from the action, although the world is linked with air travel.

The property market is already seeing a strong rise in property prices, particularly Sydney and Melbourne, due to Australia’s lower interest rates, relaxed lending rules and the fact that the Liberals won the Federal election last year.

Another rush of Chinese buyers would be good news for every ASX share related to property. I’m thinking of shares like property portal businesses REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) and Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG), property builders like Mirvac Group (ASX: MGR), Finbar Group Limited (ASX: FRI) and Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX: SGP), as well as construction businesses such as Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) and CSR Limited (ASX: CSR). Even the banks like Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) could see an indirect benefit.