Canberra has announced that for two years from April 2025, foreign buyers will be unable to purchase existing homes in the country.
The move is intended to relax price pressure until new properties can be built. It also aims to prevent land banking, whereby plots are bought and mothballed as an investment.
A review will determine whether the ban will be lifted on 31 March 2027.
Previously, foreign investors have not been allowed to buy property unless they are studying or working in Australia.
Exceptions will be allowed if foreign investments increase the domestic housing supply, or are part of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, whereby Australian businesses can hire workers in “unskilled, low-skilled and semi-skilled positions” from nine of the Pacific islands and Timor-Leste.
The ban will be enforced by the Australian Taxation Office, who have been awarded additional funding.
The initiative is part of the government’s US$20bn “Homes for Australia” scheme.
Last month, Spain announced plans for a 100% tax on homes bought by residents outside the EU.
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