Chinese investments in Australian property doubles as FIRB real estate approvals overall jump 75 per cent
The Chinese appetite for offshore property, including Australian homes, in 2016 is expected to exceed the buying spree of last year, according to an industry survey.   
The poll of China-based real estate agencies found 149 of 150 of them expect demand to surpass their 2015 appetite, according to Investorist, an online platform for off-the-plan sales.
Those agents will sell as many as 11,000 offshore properties to their Chinese clients this year, with 60 per cent of them nominating Australia as their most preferred market for property investment.
The poll of Chinese agents comes hard on the heels of the latest foreign investment figures, which show the domination of Chinese investment and their growing appetite for Australian property.
China is now Australia's largest foreign investor, with $46.6 billion in proposed investment in 2015, according to the Foreign Investment Review Board.
Real estate investment comprised the bulk of Chinese investment, with $24 billion to spent in 2015, double the previous year.
And according to the Investorist survey, risk mitigation is the main reason Chinese investors are looking outside of China.
Some 46 per cent of agents listed "increasing demand for safe investment" as the primary reason for offshore investment.  
While the rush for offshore investment shows no sign of slowing, the Chinese government has been attempting to put the brakes on it in a bid to shore up its weakening currency.
Because of that, some Chinese buyers have found it more difficult to get their cash out of the country. 
Nevertheless, the devaluation of the Chinese yuan against the US dollar has reduced buying power of Chinese investors in the US and Britain.
The Australian property market has become even more attractive as a result, according to the Investorist survey.
That will be welcome news to local developers, as the housing boom tapers off  and investor loans, which spurred that boom, slow in response to regulator-driven credit cramps.
Those developers should take note though, according to the Investorist survey, that Chinese buyers are not looking for micro apartments.
There is demand for one-bedroom product but its for apartments that are at least 50 square metres, it found. 
And Chinese investors' pockets are getting deeper in this year, with more than 90 per cent of agents surveyed expecting the majority of sales will be properties above $US500,000.  
This story was first published in the AFR.