Chinese investors purchasing property in Australia prefer houses to apartments and aren't especially concerned with purchasing properties close to good schools, a new report has found.
Research carried out by Dr Mona Chung of the Deakin Business School at the University of Victoria set out to find exactly what it is that Chinese property investors are most likely to express interest in within the market down under.
She surveyed 367 Chinese property buyers and found that the majority were more likely to purchase properties that were close to good transport links than homes within school zones.
Dr Chung commented: "I was very surprised to find that they weren't choosing to buy into school areas. Though location was certainty one of [the most important factors] and price was another."
This suggests they have recognised they could make more money from millennial renters looking to commute when buying up city-based properties than from young families who may be more likely to settle down in the suburbs.
There was a clear split between investors wanting to buy properties in close proximity to city centres and those wanting homes close to friends and family for their own use.
Between $500,000 and $800,000 was found to be the price tag Chinese investors were most likely to go for, with more than half stating that their budget fell within this range. However, almost one-quarter (24 per cent) admitted to spending between $1 million and $2 million on a single property in the past.
Dr Chung was somewhat surprised by this finding, explaining: "We were expecting to find that the Chinese were paying more and buying up the expensive real estate."
This wasn't the only surprise for the report authors, as the data also showed that the number of Chinese buyers investing in apartments was significantly lower than the number buying up houses.
