Overseas rental searches spike — here’s where tenants are looking

Across the site, searches for rental properties were up 71 per cent in June 2022, a particularly substantial jump compared to the 7 per cent increase in for-sale properties. 

“This indicates that longer-term visitors are eyeing a move to our shores, most likely migrant workers and students,” remarked Karen Dellow, senior data analyst.

China, India, and Hong Kong recorded the largest uptick in search activity for rental properties, though essentially every country, except for the US, showed more interest in Australian rentals across the site this June compared to last.

The leap in interest from Australia’s neighbours to the north, in particular, is closely correlated with the resumption of international student intake at the country’s higher education institutions.

Ms Dellow noted that China, India, and Hong Kong provide Australia with a significant number of students as well as skilled migrant workers, who often become permanent residents or citizens.

This is perhaps why migrants from India and China make up the highest percentage of Australia’s overseas-born population, after those from England.

“Over the past 10 years, the number of Indian-born residents have increased by 111 per cent and Chinese-born residents by 54 per cent,” Ms Dellow noted.

Meanwhile, the total number of people born overseas has increased by 25 per cent in the past decade, whereas those born in Australia has only increased by 12 per cent.

The communities that Australia’s migrants have established help to further fuel interest in particular locations from overseas home hunters, according to Ms Dellow.

“The most searched suburbs or regions by country is greatly influenced by the cultural diversity of those areas,” she noted.

Searchers from Hong Kong and China predominantly look in suburbs with high south-east Asian populations, such as Box Hill and Glen Waverley in Victoria.

Searches from those based in India, meanwhile, tend to focus on high-development suburbs such as Tarneit and Point Cook in Victoria and The Ponds in NSW, suggesting Indian migrants are seeking house and land estates.

Those from the UK appear most attracted to the country’s sunniest locales, predominantly searching in Queensland’s south-east, with a particular eye towards the Gold Coast. New Zealanders also favour Queensland’s markets.