The Urban Developer
AdvertiseEventsWebinars
Urbanity
Awards
Sign In
Membership
Latest
Menu
Location
Sector
Category
Content
Type
Newsletters
Untitled design (8)
2 WEEKS UNTIL OUR UNMISSABLE FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE MORE THAN 550 ALREADY ATTENDING
2 WEEKS UNTIL OUR FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE 550+ ALREADY ATTENDING
REGISTER NOWDETAILS
TheUrbanDeveloper
Follow
About
About Us
Membership
Awards
Events
Webinars
Listings
Resources
Terms & Conditions
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Republishing Guidelines
Editorial Charter
Complaints Handling Policy
Contact
General Enquiries
Advertise
Contribution Enquiry
Project Submission
Membership Enquiry
Newsletter
Stay up to date and with the latest news, projects, deals and features.
Subscribe
ADVERTISEMENT
SHARE
29
print
Print
OtherTed TabetTue 10 Nov 20

Student Numbers to Bolster Property Market Post-Covid

59e3435e-2c2a-4f76-8959-2fa993ccb70e

International student numbers in Australia are set to eclipse their 2019 peak once borders reopen.

According to Asian real estate advertising and sales platform Juwai IQI, international student enrolments at Australian universities are expected to spike over the coming years as students look to upskill in order to remain competitive in the shrinking labour market.

“It will be pain before gain,” Juwai IQI executive chairman Georg Chmiel said.

“Chinese buyer enquiries are down to just half the level of a year ago and these numbers parallel to drop in student visas.

“There is still great demand—and 135,000 students are enrolled and ‘working from home’ overseas, and could quickly return to Australia as soon as borders open.”

Juwai IQI—formed by the merger of online advertising business Juwai and property sales specialist IQI last year—said prior to the pandemic, international students made up more than 30 per cent of residents in a number of suburbs neighbouring universities around Australia.

Chinese real estate buying index enquiries: Australia

^ Source: Juwai IQI, Mitchell Institute.

Leading into the academic year, purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) operators were reporting near-record occupancies for 2020 academic year.

As of October, New South Wales has lost 79,719 international students, with the suburb of Waterloo most affected, with vacancy rates there have increased by 3.10 per cent over the past year.

Sydney’s CBD, Haymarket and The Rocks area have lost the second-highest number of students and had the biggest vacancy increase of 8.5 per cent.

Victoria has lost 66,855 international students throughout the pandemic, the bulk of which were based in the Melbourne CBD.

In Malvern East, vacancy rates are 70 per cent higher than a year ago, while vacancy rates in Docklands and Southbank have lifted 14.2 per cent and 12.7 per cent respectively compared to a year ealier.

Queensland has lost 37,333 international students, a third of its total international student cohort compared to a year earlier.

The number of international students studying at Australian universities has increased dramatically in the past two decades.

International student contributions extend beyond fees: in 2018, $32 billion was injected into to the Australian economy, with upwards of 60 per cent of that figure spent on goods and services across the wider economy.

Approximately $11 billion was directly from the 160,000 students from China who studied in Australia that year.

▲Approximately 800,000 Chinese students study each year in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Image: Scape Toowong


While competitor countries continue to face their own struggles with the pandemic, Australia is now well-placed to benefit from its strict approach to controlling the spread of Covid-19.

“Our clients across Asia tell us that they would feel safer travelling to Australia to study in 2021 and 2022 than the United States or the United Kingdom,” Chmiel said.

“By 2025, Australia is likely to increase its share of international students and particularly of Chinese students at the expense of the US, the UK, and Canada.”

Currently, Chinese students account for 62 per cent of international students who are enrolled, but cannot enter the country.

More than 100,000 international students are estimated to be stranded in China, unable to return to their studies.

“Investors who already own property and are suffering may want to hang in there for another six or 12 months,” Chmiel said.

“Student numbers will begin climbing again, rents will go back up, and investments will regain lost value.

“[For] those looking to take advantage of this dip in the market, then the best opportunity is most likely to purchase in the hardest-hit suburbs from an owner who can no longer afford to carry the property with the lower prevailing rents.”

ResidentialAustraliaSector
AUTHOR
Ted Tabet
The Urban Developer - Journalist
More articles by this author
website iconlinkedin icon
ADVERTISEMENT
TOP STORIES
The Port of Brisbane has released its Vision 2060 which details the need for inland rail connectivity
Infrastructure

Brisbane Port’s $15bn Future Faces One Big Obstacle

Renee McKeown
5 Min
Freecity Rouse Hill triple towers 2 Tempus Street
Exclusive

Freecity Takes Covers Off $330m Triple Towers in Sydney’s North-West

Leon Della Bosca
5 Min
Parallel Workshops Stockdale Housing PBSA project
Exclusive

Suburban Success Story Turns PBSA Thinking on its Head

Leon Della Bosca
7 Min
Exclusive

Interstate Developers Find Lots to Love in ‘Progressive, Affordable’ SA

Taryn Paris
5 Min
Bates Smart Richmond Sportslink HERO
Exclusive

BtR Focus Drives Bates Smart’s Richmond Sportslink Concept

Leon Della Bosca
6 Min
View All >
Residential

Home Affordability Gap Widens Across Asia-Pacific

Lindsay Saunders
Logan Wastewater Funding hero
Infrastructure

Flush of Funding to Deliver 20,000 New SEQ Homes

Phil Bartsch
Stockland's Triniti HERO
Build-to-Rent

Stockland $400m North Ryde BtR Approved on Appeal

Leon Della Bosca
The 510-apartment Triniti Lighthouse development has received conditional planning approval despite community objections…
LATEST
Residential

Home Affordability Gap Widens Across Asia-Pacific

Lindsay Saunders
3 Min
Logan Wastewater Funding hero
Infrastructure

Flush of Funding to Deliver 20,000 New SEQ Homes

Phil Bartsch
3 Min
Stockland's Triniti HERO
Build-to-Rent

Stockland $400m North Ryde BtR Approved on Appeal

Leon Della Bosca
3 Min
Industrial

Inland Rail: Site at Rural Hub Comes to Market in Victoria

Lindsay Saunders
2 Min
View All >
ADVERTISEMENT
Article originally posted at: https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/international-students-bolster-property-market