Criminals are targeting Australian real estate as a safe haven to launder money and hide the proceeds of crime, according to the national money laundering watchdog.

As politicians and policymakers debate the danger or otherwise of a big city housing bubble, a new report shows that holes in probity regulations make bricks-and-mortar a favoured hiding place for ill-gotten gains.

AUSTRAC says it has " identified high-value goods, including real estate, to be a significant money laundering channel in Australia." Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

"Criminals buy high-value goods such as real estate as a way of laundering or concealing illicit funds," the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre said in its report, Money laundering through real estate agents.