The number of Chinese buyers of Australian homes is likely to remain steady this year in a major boost for the weakening markets in Sydney and Melbourne.

Continued wealth growth in China (with dollar-worth per adult having risen four-fold over the past six years), an eye for an Australian bargain, a weak yuan and the trade war between the US and China are all factors in keeping investment in Australia strong.

The forecast comes even as foreign buyers face extra state taxes on their purchase, says the Australia 2019 Outlook for Chinese Residential Real Estate Buying report by Juwai.com.

“Chinese lack appealing alternative investments at home,” says Juwai CEO Carrie Law. “Bank deposits earn low rates, Chinese stock exchanges were the world’s worst performing in 2018, Chinese real estate is tightly regulated and peer-to-peer lending and private equity funds have collapsed.”

The report says Chinese buyers spent $US129.3 billion on global real estate last year, up 8% on the previous year. That level is likely to remain stable this year, with Melbourne to get the highest share of investment, Sydney second and Brisbane third.