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With social media increasingly the catalyst for connecting wealthy Chinese buyers with Australian real estate agents, it has been estimated that less than two per cent of agents here are on China's leading social media networks.
That's the verdict of Mr Andrew Taylor, co-CEO of Chinese listings portal Juwai.com, who told Real Estate Business the only thing holding social media back from playing a more significant role here is that buyers from China and agents in Australia are on different networks.
"I estimate only between one to two per cent of Australian agents are on QQ, WeChat and Weibo, which are the most popular social media networks in China," he said.
"Facebook and Twitter are banned in China, so all those agents on Facebook see no benefit from being there, as far as Chinese buyers go,” he added.
Mr Taylor said Chinese investment in Australian property climbed 75 per cent over the last two years to a new high of $5.9 billion, making them the biggest international buyers of Australian real estate. And it's expected Chinese investment will continue to flow into the Australian property market for the next couple of years.
With Chinese outbound property investment predicted to grow by 20 per cent per year in the coming decade, the country's social media platforms have become hugely popular among younger property buyers, some still in their early twenties and many of them from China's wealthy families.
"Social media fuels Chinese purchases of real estate in Australia by helping them find properties and agents, helping them communicate with agents and giving them a way to share the properties they are looking at with their friends,” said Mr Taylor.
"The best thing social media can do is create a connection. It’s so immediate and personal that agents using social media can create a relationship that might be harder to do just by email,"
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