Foreign investors buying more properties in Victoria despite new taxes

The surge made Victoria the nation’s top destination for oversees buyers, despite a raft of new fees and taxes aimed at cooling offshore demand, as well as local unease about housing affordability, traffic congestion, increasing crime and the cost of living. Buyers from China, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong accounted for nearly half of all purchases by foreign investors across Australia last year. China maintained its position as the largest source of foreign buyers, picking up more than 2000 properties, worth about $2 billion. The Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets, established in 2023, creates a single national record of foreign-held assets. Administered by the ATO, the register’s latest report was released earlier this month, capturing assets bought up to June 30, 2024. The report also provides a longer-term snapshot of foreign ownership, revealing overseas buyers bought more than 40,000 properties since 2016. Victoria accounted for the largest share – about 17,000.