Chinese homebuyers shift focus from Sydney to Queensland

Buyers of Australian property from the Chinese mainland are turning away from Sydney and Melbourne and looking at southeast Queensland where dwelling values are "compelling", according to John McGrath, chief executive officer of McGrath Ltd.

The company debuted on the Australian share market in Sydney on Monday. Sydney and Melbourne prices are at the end of the "growth cycle", McGrath said. Chinese demand had helped propel a surge in Sydney homes.

After running up 47 percent in the three years to October, sending the value of an average Sydney house to about A$1 million ($730,000), home prices in the city dropped 1.4 percent in November. It was the biggest decline in at least five years. Prices are down as much as 15 percent from a year earlier.