[SYDNEY] Australia approved a record A$24.9 billion (S$29.2 billion) of home purchases by foreign buyers in the nine months to March 31, a 93 per cent jump from the same period a year earlier, UBS AG said.

Overseas investment in housing in Australia is now 13 per cent of total turnover, compared with a trend of 8 per cent, UBS economists Scott Haslem and George Tharenou wrote in a report dated June 27. About 78 per cent of purchases were of new properties, they said.

The Australian parliament is conducting an inquiry into foreign buying of domestic real estate amid concerns that overseas demand is pushing up prices and making housing unaffordable for local buyers. Dwelling prices climbed 10.7 per cent across Australia's eight state and territory capitals to a median A$545,000 in the 12 months to May 31, according to the RP Data-Rismark home value index, amid interest rates at a record low 2.5 per cent.