CHINESE buyer inquiries for Australian homes rose for a second quarter in a row in March, latest data from Juwai.com showed, signalling a possible revival of demand for the Pacific nation’s beleaguered property market from a key investor base.

Chinese inquiries jumped 40 percent in the first quarter after a 54 percent gain in the three months to December — the first consecutive year-on-year rise since 2016, according to Juwai.com, China’s largest international property website.

“The recent quarters of slow recovery could herald the light at the end of the tunnel for Chinese residential property investment in Australia,” Juwai.com said.

“We’re not there yet, but the trend of the past 15 months suggests that Chinese buying will come back to more substantial levels.”

A pickup in Australia’s property market will be welcomed by policymakers worried about further weakness in the country’s already struggling economy. The Reserve Bank of Australia this month cut the cash rate to a record low 1 percent as it looks to revive growth and inflation.

Chinese have been the biggest buyers of Australian property for several years.

Australia’s housing prices have fallen every month since late 2017 but they showed tentative signs of stabilization in June with Sydney and Melbourne improving slightly.

“The poor performance of Australian housing prices is a deterrent to Chinese investors,” Juwai.com said.

“Our core case is that Chinese buying will be stable this year. We have to accept, however, that if the market’s downward spiral accelerates, we may actually see levels of Chinese buying decline in 2019 compared to 2018.”(SD-Agencies)