Foreign investment in Australian real estate fell 58 percent last financial year, making it the second consecutive dramatic fall since the peak of 2016.
Across all industry sectors, the US is now the leading source country of foreign investment, having jumped by $10 billion in the 2017-18 financial year, but China still leads the world for foreign investment in Australian residential real estate.
The introduction of state taxes, investment application fees, stricter lending conditions by Australian banks and tighter capital controls on outgoing funds from China are the main reasons cited for the drop-off in investment by the latest Foreign Investment Review Board annual report released on Monday.
"For the first time since 2012-13, the United States surpassed China as the largest source country for approved proposed investment due to an increase in United States approvals and a decline in Chinese approvals," the report states.
