Deborah Wiltshire, sales director at leading Australian property developer The Gurner Group, said at a recent seminar in HCMC that data from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board showed that foreigners acquired 5,360 residential properties for some A$4.9 billion (US$3.1 billion) in 2022-23.
The number of properties bought by Vietnamese increased by 15% in that period. They accounted for 8-10% of all off-the-plan apartment purchases, she said.
Data from Victoria, the Australian state that attracts the most Vietnamese international students, for 2024 shows that the number of apartments sold to Vietnamese buyers increased by 10-12% year-on-year, with units priced at US$800,000-1.2 million being the most popular ones.
A report by property consultancy CBRE on foreign investment in the Asia-Pacific region found that Vietnamese buy homes in Australia for accommodation and education purposes (60%), investment (30%) and migration needs (10%).
Wiltshire said Melbourne, Victoria’s capital city, is currently the most attractive location for foreign buyers in Australia due to its high level of urbanization, strong economy and cultural diversity.
The city had seen more than one million international student enrollments as of last year, with 55% of them coming from China, India, Nepal, the Philippines, and Vietnam, she said.
It is forecast to become the fastest-growing capital city in Australia over the next decade.
Michael Paproth, business manager at The Gurner Group, said Australia’s population is projected to grow by 1.8% annually over the next five years, outpacing other developed economies such as Canada, the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
But housing development is not keeping pace and the supply of apartments is limited, he said.
From now to 2028 the city is expected to face a shortage of around 28,000 apartments. Housing prices are forecast to increase sharply from the second quarter of 2026 after a temporary concession of Victoria’s land transfer duty expires.
The Australian government has prohibited foreigners from buying existing properties, he said.
Off-the-plan, or pre-construction, purchases are subject to a 10% tax. This rate is low compared to countries like Singapore, which imposes a 60% tax on the first home purchase and 30% on subsequent ones, he said.
According to property consultancy Knight Frank, Vietnam had around 5,500 individuals with a net worth of over $10 million in 2024.
The country’s high-net-worth population was growing steadily at 5-18% annually before the Covid-19 pandemic and 2.4-5% since.
Vietnamese people’s demand for foreign properties is expected to rise in line with the growth in their wealth.
