Total investment in Australian property both from state-owned and private enterprises in China reached US$935.5 million in 2019, falling to US$664 million last year. As of the first quarter of this year, it was down to just US$22.7 million, according to RCA. The data tracked deals involving income-producing real estate such as offices, industrial and retail buildings, hotels, rental apartments and development sites for commercial and residential projects worth at least US$10 million.
“The tension in the international relations [between Canberra and Beijing] will affect foreign direct investments into Australia, including investments in its property market, where Chinese investors constitute one of the largest foreign investor groups in the country,” said Sing Tien Foo, director, Institute of Real Estate and Urban Studies at the National University of Singapore.