A two-year ban on foreign investors buying existing homes will start in April, as the Labor Government adopts a policy initially proposed by the Coalition in May 2024.
The measure prohibits anyone from overseas, who isn’t an Australian resident, from buying an established house or apartment.
The Government and Coalition have both said the ban will free up the housing market for Australian buyers. The Greens have described the move as “blaming migrants for a housing crisis they didn’t cause.”
Foreign buyers
Foreign investors generally can’t buy existing (i.e. not new) homes in Australia, unless they intend to live in their properties.
Data from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) shows 5,360 properties were bought by non-residents based outside Australia in the 2022/23 financial year. About one third of those purchases were of an existing home.
This represents less than 1% of the total properties bought in the same year — around 665,000, according to property analyst group PEXA.
The ban
Your contribution ensures The Daily Aus can continue doing the work you love.
I want to give $10 monthly to help TDA keep doing the news.
Your details:
Foreign buyers won’t be able to put in a bid for an existing home from April until at least 31 March 2027.
In a joint statement, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Housing Minister Clare O’Neil said: “Australians will be able to buy homes that would have otherwise been bought by foreign investors.”
The Government will review the ban in early 2027.
The ATO will be given $5.7 million over four years to enforce the ban and “enhance screening of foreign investment proposals”.
Response
The Government’s plan mirrors a proposal from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in May last year.
Shadow Housing Minister Michael Sukkar called Labor’s move a “desperate attempt to adopt Coalition policy 5 minutes before an election.”
Greens Housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather said both parties had teamed up in a “race to the bottom.” He noted recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing domestic property investors bought around 192,000 homes in 2024.
