LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Chinese interest in Australian residential property is booming.

The latest survey shows that in New South Wales, one in six new homes are sold to foreigners.

While some welcome the new market, others fear it's pushing up prices and making it even harder for local first home buyers.

Tracy Bowden reports.

TRACY BOWDEN, REPORTER: Monika Tu's company, Black Diamondz, is all about luxury.

This high-flying businesswoman calls herself a property concierge and advises her cashed-up clients on everything from housing, to schools to golf courses.

MONIKA TU, PROPERTY CONCIERGE: We're very specialised in luxury properties and selling and it's a concierge service. So we try to help to sell the property and try to help people to settle into Australia. So many are wealthy Chinese migrants.

TRACY BOWDEN: Today Monika Tu is showing client Amy Yang through a brand new home on Sydney's exclusive Lower North Shore. The asking price: $13 million.

MONIKA TU: Probably 80 per cent, I would say, of my clients who have already bought the house and they are developer themself in China. So, when they walk into a property, they - straight away they can tell the quality of the property.

AMY YANG: I decide to move family here for their education and for the lifestyle and this is just a beautiful place to be.

TRACY BOWDEN: Amy Yang has been living in Australia for three years. With Monika's help, she's already bought a home in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Now she's on the hunt on behalf of a friend living overseas.

AMY YANG: My friend is based in Hong Kong. He have been here visiting me for a few times. So he love Australia and he wants to move family over to Australia in the future.

JOHN MCGRATH, MCGRATH ESTATE AGENTS: Well the Chinese Byers have been, I guess, around for some time in Australia, but the surge of activity in the last 12 months is somewhat unprecedented. I haven't seen as much interest from an offshore market in this country in 30 years - my 30 years in real estate, anyway.

MARTIN NORTH, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS: There is a very strong growing middle class in China who are very interested in property and Australia is seen as a very interesting market to shop in.

TRACY BOWDEN: Away from the mansions, there's a different type of real estate being vigorously marketed to Asia, mainly in Sydney and Melbourne, but also on the Gold Coast and in Perth; off-the-plan, high-rise apartments.

JOHN MCGRATH: It's regionalised into certain areas, but we are finding that in some suburbs that, you know, 90 per cent of a new project will sell to Chinese buyers.

TRACY BOWDEN: Under guidelines announced in late 2008, if a developer has preapproval from the Foreign Investment Review Board, 100 per cent of the apartments in a new development can be sold to foreigners.

MARTIN NORTH: So in some cases there are developers who are essentially building directly to sell to China and they're advertising on websites over in China and using, you know, Chinese connections to be able to actually sell off the plan. And we're also seeing other investors, some resident here in Australia and some resident overseas, looking at the high rise market and wanting to buy in as well.

TRACY BOWDEN: Here at Hurstville in Sydney's south, people have been lining up since early morning, hoping for first choice of the apartments in the Highpoint complex. Many of them are originally from China, but are now Australian residents, like Bo Yu, who moved to Sydney six years ago.

So what are you hoping to buy today?

BO YU: I'm hoping to buy a one bedroom and one study just for my first home.

TRACY BOWDEN: But Bo Yu isn't guaranteed success. Within minutes of the sales office opening, deals are being done.

TIM REES, CBRE REAL ESTATE: Well we've sold 250 units in our first release, three hours, and this morning we've sold another 50 units, so we've sold over 300 apartments. We've got first homebuyers strong in the market at the moment; probably 60 per cent owner-occupiers, 40 per cent investors, we're finding at the moment.

TRACY BOWDEN: Real estate companies are expanding their services to cater to the emerging Asian market. McGrath Estate Agents have set up a special Asia desk and prints many of its publications and brochures in Chinese as well as English. But not all agents are so enthusiastic.

PATRICK BRIGHT, BUYER'S AGENT: Why would we sell off the farm, if you like, or so to speak, or sell off the city if we don't need to? I mean, we're not - it's not like we're struggling for people to buy these properties because we've got an under supply, is what all the associations keep telling us.

TRACY BOWDEN: Sydney buyer's agent and author Patrick Bright refuses to help non-residents find property here.

PATRICK BRIGHT: The reason the developers and that are chasing foreign buyers, be it wherever they're from, is because they can get a higher price. I mean, why would you go to the effort of trying to sell your local development internationally if you could sell it to locals at the same price? So obviously they're getting more money for it.

MARTIN NORTH: So we're seeing prices shoot away. First-time buyers are aren't able to get on the wagon simply because they can't afford to get in, and they might be saving half, but they've now seen prices slide further up the scale.

TRACY BOWDEN: Finance analyst Martin North says there is simply not enough residential property available in Australia.

MARTIN NORTH: And it's also very hard to find property bidders. When you actually go and attend an auction, you suddenly discover that investors from overseas and local investors and baby boomers are also trying to buy the same property. So it's very hard for first-time buyers to get into the property market.

JOHN MCGRATH: Look, I think overall people are hearing about the trend and they're probably thinking that it's driving their prices up. I think the prices are going up because the market's improving overall. This is one factor that's driving it up, but it's more localised. It's not really a major significant contributor to the overall market. It's just one piece of the puzzle.

MONIKA TU: My day is crazy, but I love it.

TRACY BOWDEN: Property concierge Monika Tu says business is booming and she can't find enough mansions for her wealthy clients. Nonetheless, she's sold $21 million worth of property in August and is fast approaching her target for the year.

MONIKA TU: This year I want to do $100 million and I'm very close.

LEIGH SALES: Tracy Bowden reporting.