Chinese property investment is soaring in Queensland as a record number of students from the country enrol to study in the Sunshine State.
Data from the Foreign Ownership of Land Register shows Chinese investors spent about $1.5 billion on Queensland properties in 2016-17 — up from $872 million two years earlier.
Nearly all the money was spent on properties in the Brisbane and Gold Coast local government areas, where more than 6,000 parcels of land were under Chinese ownership at the end of the 2017 financial year.
There were 21,509 Chinese citizens enrolled on student visas in Queensland in March this year, making up about a quarter of the state's international student body.
Figures from the Federal Government show Chinese enrolments have steadily increased by about 3,000 each year since 2015.
Brisbane real estate agent Robin Yu said most of his Asian clients were Australian-based, but some would fly over from China to view and purchase property.
"The people are buying the properties in Brisbane not only for student accommodation, not only for investment … part of the reason they're buying is for lifestyle," he said.
"The middle class from overseas, especially from China, they have increased a lot.
"Here is a very safe place and the lifestyle, the environment — they can't buy it anywhere in China."
Real Estate Institute of Queensland chief executive Antonia Mercorella said while there was anecdotal evidence of increased Chinese property investment being linked to education, there was limited data on the topic.
"We do know there are a number of Chinese families who are wanting to send their children here to be educated, and there is a preference to housing them in properties that are owned by them," she said.
"It's difficult to know how many there are.
"There's no doubt there is a growing demand from the Chinese community for housing in our state."
Foreign buyers have to buy new properties
For residential properties, the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) generally permits overseas buyers to purchase new dwellings, but they are required to complete development on vacant land within four years.
The FIRB said foreigners were usually not allowed to buy existing dwellings, but temporary residents, like students, could do so if they sold the property within three months of moving out.
In total, overseas investors forked out more than $4 billion on Queensland properties last financial year, according to the foreign ownership register.
After Chinese owners, other big spenders were Americans ($508 million), Koreans ($220 million), Hong Kongers ($216 million) and Germans ($203 million).
Buyers from the tax havens of Jersey, Liechtenstein and British Virgin Islands also spent about $295 million in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
