Searches for Australian properties from overseas buyers increased slightly compared to the same time last year, although the number of searches from individual countries has fluctuated.
Indian property seekers were particularly interested in Australian homes in October, with searches for properties to buy and rent both up by 23% compared to last year.
Searches from the UK were also up for buying and renting, and Hong Kong searches for properties to rent increased by 4%.
Property seekers from New Zealand decreased during October, for both buying and renting properties; however, this is typical for this time of year and will likely pick up in December.
Searches from the United States spiked in the past quarter, as polls showed former president and candidate Donald Trump was on track to win the White House in November. However, they dropped by 25% between September and October, as vice-president Kamala Harris replaced president Joe Biden to join the race.
Now that Mr Trump is the president-elect, it will be interesting to see whether an increase in searches is experienced.
Most of the searches from the United States came from California, New York, and New Jersey, three of the largest and most populous states, but searches from Texas were also high.
The overseas city where the most searches came from was Auckland in New Zealand, for both buying and renting searches.
What makes Auckland particularly special is that it is punching well above its weight when compared to other cities with a high number of searches, such as Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Auckland has a population of 1.7 million, compared to Tokyo that has nine million residents, and 7.5 million in Hong Kong. This means a larger proportion of Auckland’s population is searching for Australian properties than those in other cities.
What is particularly surprising about searches from overseas is that they are looking for higher-priced properties than Australians do.
The most common maximum price for Australian searchers when looking to buy on realestate.com.au is $600,000.
This is quite surprising as the number of properties below this threshold is shrinking, especially in the capital cities.
However, the most searched top price band for overseas searchers is $1 million, which is reflective of the suburbs that get the most search activity from overseas.
Some of the cities frequently searched have more moderate prices, such as Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide; however, suburbs such as Brighton, South Yarra, and Camberwell, all in Melbourne, which are popular with overseas buyers, are all in the pricier range.
This trend is similar for overseas property seekers looking to rent. Aside from the major CBDs, renters are interested in South Yarra, Bondi, and Manly, to name a few.
Of the countries with the largest search numbers, searchers from India have a smaller budget, mostly searching for properties below $600,000.
This is reflective of many of the suburbs they search for, preferring new development suburbs such as Tarneit and Point Cook, which have reasonably priced new homes for sale.
There are a couple of reasons why overseas searchers have a bigger budget than Australians. The first is a favourable currency exchange rate.
Another factor is that many searches are coming from cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore where property prices are extremely high; therefore, people migrating from these countries may have more equity from their previous homes.
Lastly, many overseas property seekers are investors with a lot of money to spend on property in Australia and particularly favour the luxury apartments being built in the capital cities.
The most viewed of these new developments are in the major cities, such as West Side Place in Melbourne that has had the most property views from overseas in the past three months.
Australia 108, officially the tallest building to the roof in Australia, is also a popular development amongst overseas buyers.
Two developments in Sydney also make the list: 111 Castlereagh and Harbourside Residences.
There has been a lot of fluctuation in searches from different countries over the past six months, and it is likely that this will continue to be the case for searches from countries such as the United States in the coming months.
Additionally, rental searches usually spike in the lead-up to the new school/university term; however, if the federal government's overseas student cap legislation passes, then Australia could see a decrease in the number of students arriving from next year.
This will have a significant effect on the number of searches on Realestate.com.au that come from prospective students.
