Can International Students Buy Property in Australia? The Current Rules

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Last updated: 13 September 2026

Whether international students can buy property in Australia comes up constantly in Vietnamese-language forums, and a good deal of the material in circulation answers it with figures that have since moved. One date in particular shifted by more than two years, and plenty of articles have not caught up. This article sets out the rules as published by Australian government sources.

Student visa holders are treated as foreign persons under Australia’s foreign investment framework. That group can still apply for approval to purchase new dwellings, off-the-plan property or vacant residential land. From 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, foreign investors are generally prohibited from purchasing established dwellings, and limited exceptions apply.

Can international students buy property in Australia?

Yes, within a limited range and subject to approval. Put another way, international students buying property in Australia is possible, but not every type of property sits inside the permitted range.

Under Australia’s foreign investment framework, holders of temporary visas — student visas among them — are treated as foreign persons. The published guidance states that “Temporary residents, foreign non-residents, and New Zealand citizens not ordinarily resident in Australia are taken to be foreign investors for the purposes of the Act”, and adds that special rules apply to temporary residents wishing to acquire residential land (foreigninvestment.gov.au, Key concepts, last updated 12 December 2025).

Foreign persons generally require foreign investment approval before acquiring an interest in residential land, regardless of its value, and are limited in the types of property they may acquire.

So the answer is not a flat yes or no. It turns on the type of property you have in mind, and on your own circumstances.

The common misconception, and what the source says: the established dwelling ban runs to 30 June 2029

This is a frequent error in the Vietnamese-language material circulating on the subject of international students buying property in Australia.

Common misconception
“The ban on foreign purchases of established dwellings runs to 31 March 2027, so waiting a while longer will make a purchase possible.”

What the source says
31 March 2027 was the original end date. The Australian Government extended the measure. The published wording is: “From 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, foreign investors are generally prohibited from purchasing established dwellings. Limited exceptions apply.”

Source: Residential land, foreigninvestment.gov.au, last updated 1 July 2026. Guidance Note 6: Residential Land, published on that same page, uses the same two dates and sets out the limited exceptions. The Australian Taxation Office describes the change in the same terms, noting that the government extended a ban which was due to end on 31 March 2027 (ato.gov.au, Types of property a foreign person can buy, last updated 13 May 2026).

The gap between the two dates is more than two years. A plan built on the 2027 date needs to be recalculated.

The same sources also record the other half of the rule: temporary residents can still apply for approval to purchase vacant land or new dwellings. That part is often left out when other summaries condense the measure into a single sentence.

What types of property can international students buy?

For international students buying property in Australia, the range of choice sits inside the categories of residential land a foreign person may apply to acquire. The definitions below are the ones published in Guidance Note 6: Residential Land.

New or near-new dwellings

A new dwelling is one that will be, is being, or has been built on residential land; has not been previously sold as a dwelling; and has not been previously occupied.

A near-new dwelling is one that will be, is being, or has been built on residential land; is part of a residential development; was previously sold by the developer of that development, where the transaction failed to settle; and has not been previously occupied for more than 12 months in total. Each of those four conditions forms part of the definition.

The guidance is explicit that new and near-new dwellings do not include established dwellings that have been refurbished or renovated, or a single dwelling built to replace one or more demolished established dwellings.

Off-the-plan property

Buying off the plan means committing before construction is finished, on the strength of the developer’s plans and specifications. Where the dwelling meets the definition of a new dwelling, it sits within the group a foreign person may apply to acquire. The guidance also notes that property developers selling new dwellings off the plan can apply for foreign investment approval on behalf of their foreign customers, and that where a developer holds such an approval the buyer will generally not need to seek their own.

Vacant residential land

Vacant land is treated as vacant residential land if the number of dwellings that could reasonably be built on it is less than 10, and the land is not being used wholly and exclusively for a primary production business. The guidance adds that land which previously had a residential dwelling built on it would generally not be treated as vacant residential land, and is instead subject to the eligibility and conditions that apply to established dwellings.

Where approval is granted for vacant residential land, it is generally conditional upon the construction being completed within 4 years and the land not being sold until the construction is complete (foreigninvestment.gov.au, Residential land, last updated 1 July 2026).

Why a house and land package sits inside the permitted group

A house and land package pairs a vacant block with a new dwelling to be built on that block. Both components sit inside the categories set out above, which is why this product type falls outside the scope of the established dwelling ban.

That is a large part of why house and land packages come up so often with temporary visa holders and with parents in Vietnam. Whether a particular package meets the published definitions is a question for the approval application rather than something to infer from marketing material.

Beyond the categories above, the framework sets out further limited situations: established dwellings purchased for redevelopment where the redevelopment will significantly increase Australia’s housing stock by at least 20 additional dwellings; acquisitions that support the availability of housing on a commercial scale; and foreign-controlled companies required to house Australian-based workers from Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste. Each carries its own conditions, is assessed case by case, and sits outside the scope of this article.

What has to be done before buying?

Before international students buy property in Australia, there is an obligation to complete first. The Australian Taxation Office states that if you are a foreign person, you must apply for approval before buying a residential property in Australia, and that you must pay a fee when you submit that application (ato.gov.au, Apply to buy residential property as a foreign person, last updated 13 May 2026).

This article does not go into the approval mechanism itself. That is covered separately:

• The fee bands by property value, and how the schedule is structured — see our article on FIRB application fees for residential property.
• Where approval sits in the wider purchase sequence, from first enquiry through to settlement — see our article on the home buying process in Australia step by step.

One point worth noting on the fee: fees for foreign investment applications are indexed each financial year on 1 July, so a figure quoted in an older article may no longer be the current one (ato.gov.au, Residential fees for a foreign person, last updated 1 July 2026).

Buying in Queensland: the state charges

Alongside the federal layer above, each state applies its own duty rules. Nextstar Realty operates in Queensland, so this section covers the Queensland position.

(Sources: Queensland Revenue Office, AFAD residential land, last updated 1 July 2025, and Assessing and calculating AFAD, last updated 31 July 2026; 2024–25 State Budget changes, Queensland Revenue Office, 20 June 2024, which records the increase from 7% to 8% from 1 July 2024. Queensland Revenue Office also states that you are a foreign individual for AFAD if you are not an Australian citizen or permanent resident — Types of foreign persons for AFAD, last updated 27 September 2024.)

A recent change that matters to student visa holders

Queensland Revenue Office states that to claim a home concession you must, for transactions entered into on or after 1 August 2026, be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree. The same page adds that this does not apply to transactions entered into before 1 August 2026.

A student visa holder who is not an Australian citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree would therefore not meet that particular eligibility condition for a transaction entered into on or after 1 August 2026. Eligibility depends on the person’s own circumstances and should be checked against the transaction in question.

There is a point here that is easy to misread. The Queensland Government’s transfer duty page states: “You do not have to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident to claim a transfer duty exemption.” Exemptions and concessions are two different things, and the citizenship condition described above appears on the concession pages.

(Sources: qld.gov.au, Transfer duty (stamp duty) concessions and exemptions, last updated 3 August 2026. The citizenship, permanent residence and specified foreign retiree condition appears on the Queensland Revenue Office Home concession, First home concession and First home (new home) concession pages, each last updated 31 July 2026.)

The transfer duty concessions above should also be kept separate from the first home owner grant in Queensland. These are two distinct programs. Queensland Revenue Office states that to be eligible for the grant you must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or applying with someone who is — so a joint application with a spouse who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident may still be eligible where the other criteria are met (qro.qld.gov.au, Eligibility for the first home owner grant, last updated 5 August 2026).

One more thing to keep separate: where a concession is claimed, AFAD is not removed by it. Queensland Revenue Office describes a home concession as a reduction in the transfer duty payable, while AFAD is calculated on the foreign acquirer’s interest of the dutiable value of the AFAD residential land.

The conditions attached to each concession should be checked against each individual transaction. Several of them carry a requirement to move into the home within a set period, and further requirements that continue to apply after the concession has been claimed.

Two common situations

Questions about international students buying property in Australia tend to come from one of two positions, and the two need quite different information.

The student buying in their own name

You are treated as a foreign person, generally need approval before you acquire an interest in residential land, and are limited to new and near-new dwellings, off-the-plan property and vacant residential land. In Queensland, a buyer who is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident falls inside AFAD.

For a transaction entered into on or after 1 August 2026, the home concession group carries the citizenship, permanent residence or specified foreign retiree condition described above. If that condition is not met, a budget built around the reduction will not hold — so check your own position before relying on it.

On finance: lending criteria for temporary visa holders differ between lenders and change over time. That subject should be discussed with a mortgage broker or a bank, within the scope of their registration, rather than settled from material collected online.

Parents in Vietnam buying for a child studying in Australia

If the person on the title is living in Vietnam, that person is also a foreign person, with the same range of permitted property types and the same approval obligation.

How the title is held — one name, two names, or a particular form of co-ownership — affects both the approval obligation and how fees are calculated. That should be handled by a solicitor or a suitably qualified legal or conveyancing professional, within the scope of their registration. Nextstar Realty does not provide legal advice. It is a conversation worth having before the ownership structure is settled.

What to take to a professional rather than decide alone

Along the way there is a group of questions that sits outside what a real estate agency can advise on. For those, the question should go to the right professional.

Nextstar Realty helps with the product side — understanding what is available and comparing projects — and connects you to the right professional for the rest.

Frequently asked questions about international students buying property in Australia

Can international students buy property in Australia?

Yes, within a limited range. Student visa holders are treated as foreign persons, generally need approval before acquiring an interest in residential land, and can apply for approval to purchase new dwellings, off-the-plan property or vacant residential land. Whether a particular purchase can proceed depends on the person’s own circumstances and on the property.

What types of property can a subclass 500 visa holder buy?

Under the current rules, temporary residents can apply for approval to purchase vacant land or new dwellings. From 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, foreign investors are generally prohibited from purchasing established dwellings, and limited exceptions apply. Whether a specific visa subclass is temporary or permanent can be checked on the Department of Home Affairs visa list, which Queensland Revenue Office also points buyers to.

Do international students need approval to buy property in Australia?

Yes. The Australian Taxation Office states that a foreign person must apply for approval before buying a residential property in Australia, and must pay a fee when submitting that application. Fees for foreign investment applications are indexed each financial year on 1 July, so the amount payable depends on when the application is made as well as on the value of the property.

Can international students claim the Queensland transfer duty concessions?

For transactions entered into on or after 1 August 2026, Queensland Revenue Office states that a claimant must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree, and that this does not apply to transactions entered into before 1 August 2026. A student visa holder who does not meet one of those three descriptions would not meet that eligibility condition. Eligibility should be checked against your own transaction.

Can parents in Vietnam buy a home for a child studying in Australia?

A person on the title who is living in Vietnam is also a foreign person, with the same range of permitted property types and the same approval obligation. The ownership structure should be handled by a solicitor or a suitably qualified legal or conveyancing professional, within the scope of their registration, before it is settled.

Do international students pay extra duty in Queensland?

Where the buyer is a foreign person, yes. Alongside transfer duty, Queensland applies additional foreign acquirer duty at a current rate of 8%, calculated on the foreign acquirer’s interest of the dutiable value of the AFAD residential land, where the liability arises on or after 1 October 2016. The 8% rate applies from 1 July 2024.

Next steps for international students looking to buy in Australia

The point to carry away: the established dwelling ban on foreign investors runs from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, with limited exceptions — not to 31 March 2027, as a good deal of older material still records. For student visa holders, and for parents in Vietnam, the workable range sits in new and near-new dwellings, off-the-plan property and vacant residential land, and a budget should allow for AFAD rather than assume a home concession.

If you would like to work through what this means for your own position, book a consultation with Nextstar Realty.

Note on scope and timing: the dates, figures and conditions above were checked on 8 September 2026 against foreigninvestment.gov.au, ato.gov.au, qro.qld.gov.au and qld.gov.au. These rules change, so check the official source at the time you buy. Contracts and ownership structure should be handled by a solicitor or a suitably qualified legal or conveyancing professional. Nextstar Realty does not provide legal advice. Visa and residency questions should be directed to a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner, within the scope of their registration.

Sources

• ATO — Types of property a foreign person can buy
• ATO — Residential fees for a foreign person
• Queensland Revenue Office — Additional foreign acquirer duty
• Queensland Government — Transfer duty concessions and exemptions

This article is general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances, financial situation or objectives. It is not legal, financial, taxation or migration advice. You should obtain independent professional advice before making any property decision.

Further reading

• The home buying process in Australia, step by step
• FIRB application fees for residential property
• Transfer duty in Queensland
• Foreign buyer duty in Queensland (AFAD)
• The first home owner grant in Queensland