_Chinese Developers in Australia

Lunar New Year in 2019 represents the ‘Yellow Earth Pig’, the twelfth and last of the Chinese Zodiac. Symbolising wealth and prosperity, business decisions this year are likely to be more realistic, taken in stride, but with precision. 

Will this reflect the actions of Chinese developers in Australia?

Over the past five years, Chinese developers have significantly ramped up their presence building landmark residential towers around the world – including along the skyline of the Australian east coast.

Chinese developers and investors purchased A$1.3 billion worth of Australian residential development sites last year. This was down substantially from the A$2.02 billion recorded a year earlier, although their share of total sales fell only slightly from 33% - reflecting a wider, slower-paced market.

There is no denying Chinese developers have met with challenges throughout this time. From the Chinese government attempting to moderate capital outflow, to locally, the impact when major domestic banks restricted lending to offshore borrowers which limited the ability to rely on deep databases with clients familiar with projects in their home towns – all of this has had an impact on Chinese outbound investment.

The majority of Chinese developers who have now entered the Australian landscape are settling in for the long haul – now diversifying their portfolios to adapt to local market trends. Over the past year, the likes of Zone Q, China Poly Group, Yuhu Group and Aqualand have increased their exposure to office assets and this trend is likely to continue in 2019.

Read our latest Chinese Developers in Australia Market Insight 2019 here.