Australia is luring foreign interest in more than just homes for sale, according to recent reports.
Bloomberg reported on 14 August that a slew of new business from foreign parties could take deal-making to heights not seen since 2007.
"We're seeing more transactions at the moment than we have over the past several years," Gary Nicholson, a Melbourne-based partner and deals specialist at Ernst & Young Global Ltd., told Bloomberg.
"In Australia, the transaction cycle has turned. Foreign investors do see Australia as a safe place to invest."
Data compiled by the news source also showed that foreign buyers zeroed in on Aussie companies in 149 deals during the second quarter of 2014, leading to $40 billion in announced transactions - the most ever for any recorded three-month period.
It would seem that the Australian economy as a whole is mirroring foreign interest in the nation's property market.
While those in China are usually spotlighted as the drivers of foreign real estate purchases, data shows they are not alone.
For instance, BusinessDay reported on 4 July that while China is responsible for $5.93 billion in real estate purchase approvals based on 2012-2013 data from the Foreign Investment Review Board, Canadians were close behind with $4.92 billion during the same time period.
They were followed by buyers from the US($4.4 billion), Singapore ($2.01 billion) and the UK (1.67 billion).
So what is driving this interest in real estate in Australia? According to one source, migration options and portfolio diversification are the primary reasons.
The Magic Dragon: Chinese Investment and Oz Housing, a report from Broker CLSA, focussed on why Chinese buyers are so drawn to Australia.
"A key reason (for buying here) is increasing emigration options, by having property in the preferred destination country,'' The Australian quoted the report as saying in a 14 August article.
"Diversifying investment portfolios is another important motive. This is perhaps a euphemism for getting capital out of China as a mechanism for wealthy Chinese to mitigate the perceived economic and political risk of living in, and having wealth tied up in, the People's Republic of China."
Meanwhile, market experts are saying demand from foreign home buyers is here to stay.
Joseph Zaja of the Ausin Group told BusinessDay in a 6 August article that he doesn't see the trend slowing down any time soon.
With that in mind, it looks like foreign buyers might be wise to invest in help from real estate professionals that can cater to their specific needs.
