1 in 2 agents have seen growth in interstate and overseas buyers for local property

New research reveals real estate agents have seen growth in the number of interstate and overseas property buyers in the last 12 months. 

Gavl, in conjunction with Pureprofile, a leading data and insights company, conducted a survey of Sydney and Melbourne real estate agents to gauge potential growth, if any, in enquiries for local properties by interstate and overseas buyers. 

48% of agents revealed they have seen growth over the last year in the number of buyers from interstate and overseas making purchases in the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets.  

More agents are seeing buyers from interstate than overseas: overall, 30% of the agents surveyed have witnessed growth in interstate buyers, while 19% have seen growth in sales from overseas purchasers. When asked why interstate buyers have increased, 72% of agents attributed it to the ‘buying area’ being a ‘good market for buyers’.  

It seems Melbourne might be a more attractive market for non-local buyers: 30% of Melbourne agents compared with 20% of Sydney agents have seen growth from interstate buyers, and 20% of Melbourne agents compared with 15% of Sydney agents have seen growth in overseas buyers.

Australasia’s leading auctioneer and Gavl spokesperson Justin Nickerson – who has sold more than 5000 properties via auction over nine years – confirms the survey results match his own experiences and the feedback he receives from agents.  

“With Sydney and Melbourne cooling off since last years’ frenzy, the market is looking more affordable which has led to interstate and overseas buyers coming back. They’ve seen that there’s a lull which means now is a good time to buy before a surge happens again. Overseas buyers see cities like Sydney and Melbourne as always being desirable with jobs and infrastructure, so they’ll invest now to reap the benefits later.” 

Gavl CEO and co-founder Joel Smith says, “Gavl’s own data supports these survey results. Our app has been downloaded in New Zealand, China, the US, UK, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. We’ve had over 3.5 million views of 6000 Australian auctions from 50 countries which indicates overseas buyer interest in the Australian property market. We expect it to only go up from here.”