Foreign nationals have cut $1 billion from their spending on Australian real estate over the last year, largely driven by a drop in demand from China.
This comes from new data released by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) this month.
In the past financial year, offshore buyers spent $6.6 billion on residential property around Australia, with that figure making up 5581 sales.
However, the previous year saw that figure reach $7.9 billion from 6576 transactions, and in the 2021-2022 financial year it was $7.6 billion.
The FIRB stats released this month also showed that commercial real estate transactions have been slashed by more than half in the past financial year, from $50.2 billion to just $23.3 billion.
The figure was more than $63bn in the 2021-2022 financial year.
While China remained the biggest spender in the figures, it was still a fall from the numbers shown in previous financial years.
President of the Real Estate Institute of Australia Leanne Pilkington said the pull back was not a surprise due to China’s ongoing property industry problems at home, with one of their biggest developers, Evergrande, collapsing early in 2024.