Foreign home buyer’s minimal impact on national housing market activity

The latest Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) report for 2013-14 confirms the insignificant contribution of foreign home buyers to Australian housing market activity.

Current foreign investment rules stipulate that foreign buyers of established homes in Australia must have temporary resident status – typically a student visa.

The FIRB approved 7195 applications by foreign buyers for established home purchases in Australia over the 2013-14 financial year. This represented just 2.4 percent of all established house title transfers registered nationally over the same period according to the ABS.

Victoria recorded the highest number of established home purchases by foreign buyers over the year with 3483 followed by New South Wales well behind with just 2353. Victoria unsurprisingly had the highest proportion of foreign established home purchasers to total established home sales at 4.1 percent with New South Wales again well behind with just 2.4 percent.

This data clearly indicates the insignificant impact of foreign buyers on Australia’s established housing market.

Dr Andrew Wilson is Domain Group Senior Economist Twitter@DocAndrewWilson The Property Show expert 2UE Saturdays 12.30-1pm and 4BC 8.30am