PHOTO: THE ECONOMIC TIMES
Political instability in the U.S., a weaker Australian dollar, and record migration have led to a significant increase in interest from foreign buyers and renters in the Australian real estate market.
New PropTrack data reveals a 9% rise in overseas searches for Australian property sales in July, surpassing the winter inquiry average from the past five years.
This surge is primarily driven by U.S.-based buyers, with searches from America up 51% year-over-year. The U.S. now leads in property search interest across most Australian states and territories, except for South Australia, Western Australia, and Queensland.
PropTrack attributes the increase in U.S. interest to the upcoming election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. PropTrack analyst Karen Dellow noted that political or economic turmoil in other countries often leads to a spike in both rent and buy searches in Australia. The rise in U.S.-based searches coincided with polls favoring Trump to win the election.
While some of these searches might be from Australian expats looking to return home, the sustained growth over the past five years suggests broader interest from various groups within the U.S.
In July, the U.S. dollar also reached a four-month high against the Australian dollar, further fueling interest from American buyers. The impact of changes in the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate on these searches remains to be seen.
The increase in U.S. searches far outpaced that from other countries showing heightened interest in Australian properties, including India (up 22%), Singapore (up nearly 20%), and the United Kingdom (up about 16%).
Global searches for Australian rental properties also rose by 8% in July, with a significant spike in interest from Hong Kong and Singapore residents looking to rent homes. These rental searches often precede a move to Australia or, in some cases, an investment property purchase.
New polling suggests Donald Trump is no longer the frontrunner and the US election has become a dead heat.
This trend coincides with ABS data showing that Australia’s migration inflow exceeded 1 million for the second consecutive year, with 1.1 million new arrivals in the 2023/24 financial year. Sydney and Melbourne accounted for the majority of this intake, each receiving over 200,000 new residents, or about 57% of the total.
Daniel Ho, co-founder of Chinese-language real estate portal Juwai IQI, suggested that some of the growth in migration-related property interest is due to catch-up from when borders were closed during the pandemic. Most new arrivals appear to be planning long-term stays in Australia.
Daniel Wild, a director at the Institute of Public Affairs, pointed out that the high migration intake is a key factor driving Australia’s housing and inflation challenges. He argued that while Australia has always been welcoming, the federal government’s reliance on migration to boost the economy could lead to economic and social issues, particularly in congested capital cities where many Australians are priced out of the market.
SOURCE: realestate.com.au