The Secret Aussie Property Investment Internationals Love: Do You Know What It Is?

Australia has a rapidly growing yet surprising new property market luring in international developers: student housing.

The country's high standard of education, coupled with the weakened Australian dollar has given it the fastest growing foreign student population in the world, and global companies are cashing in on students need for accommodation.

The current shortfall of purpose-built student accommodation in the relatively immature Australian market is leading to some of the highest returns on student housing investment in the world. 

According to Savills WorldResearch, student housing investments in Australia offer an average 7% yield as opposed to the 5% offered by the UK and 5.75% offered by the US.

These above average returns are attracting developers from China, Dubai and South Africa, who are purchasing land, apartments and housing that can be re-purposed into student accommodation.

Educational services are now Australia’s third-biggest export after mined commodities like iron ore and coal, and with the mining boom winding up, the economy is continuing to refocus on to service industries, like education, which attract the coveted Chinese dollar.

Over a quarter of the country's 645,000 overseas enrolments last year were Chinese students, and the nation's demand for both education and housing in Australia is on track for continued growth in the years to come.