Norway, US and Japan will lead the new wave of offshore funds buying Sydney real estate.
Australia is not just on the radar of Chinese investors, but also those as far away as Norway and the US, said Andrew Cannane, General Manager, Corporate Client Services at Perpetual. Speaking yesterday at the Atchison Consultants Annual Global Real Assets Forum in Melbourne, Cannane said Japanese, Norwegian and American pension funds as well as Chinese insurance companies were all looking to invest in Australia.
He said there was a high likelihood of investment from Norges Bank, Norway's sovereign pension fund with "$1 trillion dollars of oil money" to spend, reports The Australian Financial Review.
Cannane also said Japan's General Pension Fund and US pension funds could be sources of foreign investment into Australian real estate next year. "We are starting to see them visiting Australia on tours to raise their understanding of the market," he said of US pension funds. "It is likely they won't invest on their own but will want global investment managers to invest on their behalf. But we expect to see them active in the market."
Cannane quoted data from Real Capital Analytics showing that since 2008, Sydney had risen from 48th most actively traded property market in the world to ninth, with Melbourne also rising in prominence from 63rd to 16th globally.