There are many similarities between Canada’s and Australia’s residential real estate markets.

Since the global financial crisis, and particularly since 2012, the Australian residential property market, like Canada’s market (particularly in Vancouver and Toronto), has been very strong and “has remained highly resilient amid ongoing commentary of an imminent downturn. The base conditions of strong population growth (particularly in Victoria and New South Wales), low interest rates, and easy access to debt have continued to propel the real estate boom with median house prices rising 73% in Sydney and 51% in Melbourne between 2012 and 2017,” writes Berrick Wilson of KordaMentha Real Estate in Australia.

Also similar to Canada’s experience, particularly in BC’s Lower Mainland, Australia receives significant foreign investment in real estate, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne.

“Like the UK, US, and Canada,” writes Wilson, “Australia has been a popular destination for Chinese investment. Underpinning demand is a safe, stable, economy with strong rule of law, high-quality education system, freehold real estate title system, and added lifestyle benefits such as food safety, a clean and safe living environment, and similar time zones.”

Steep price growth in residential properties has prompted Australia’s state and federal governments to take action in an attempt to cool the booming market. These include new foreign-purchaser property taxes and increased foreign-purchaser government oversight.

Download Spring 2018

Read more about Australia’s approach to foreign investment in residential property in “Regulation and Foreign Investors in Real Estate,” in the Spring 2018 issue of Input, page 6. Download Spring 2018

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