Agents are rolling out the red carpet for an influx of overseas buyers flying to Melbourne over the Chinese New Year holiday.

Some agencies are providing a concierge service; picking up buyers from the airport, booking their hotels and helping with school enrolments.

Others are reporting a jump in inquiries and translating property material into Chinese.

House hunters have started arriving ahead of the year of the monkey, and will continue flying in over the national holiday, running from February 8 to 13.

Changzhou resident Bo Fang, 36, and his family land in Melbourne on Monday.

They plan to visit friends and view properties while they’re on holiday.

“We are considering Australia, in particular Melbourne, because it has a good environment [compared with China’s air quality] … and it also gives my children an opportunity to experience a different culture.”

Mr Fang preferred property in Mount Waverley or Glen Waverley, with a view to migrate there.

Esther Yong , director at Chinese portal ACProperty, said phone inquiries before Chinese New Year jumped 35 per cent last year.

The business is seeing similar levels of activity this year, from buyers wanting to make appointments with agents to view properties during the holiday period.

Biggin and Scott Glen Waverley’s Ming Xu said his agency was striving to be a one-stop shop.

“Sometimes we pick up the clients from the airport, and we help them book the hotels because English is not their first language,” he said.

“We pick them up from the hotel and drive them to different properties.

“Some of them are looking to migrate, and the only time they can come here is during Chinese New Year, so at the same time we help the children enrol in different schools.”

Mr Xu said agents sometimes organised yum cha meals in between viewings to build rapport with buyers.

He said the extra service was provided to make buyers feel more welcome to Australia and encourage them to migrate here.

One of his prospective buyers, Evan Ye and his family, moved to Melbourne from Nanjing on a 457 visa about a month ago.

They have since rented a house in Glen Waverley, enrolled their two children in a primary school and inspected about 20 houses in the area.

They are now ready to buy, and hope to seal a deal before Mr Ye travels back to China for his solar energy business at the end of the holiday.

Mr Ye said the family moved to Australia for his children’s education, and wanted to avoid living in a school zone because they didn’t want to put them under pressure, like China’s education system.

Abercromby’s director Jock Langley said his agency was dealing with several high net-worth Asian buyers, who will be shown houses in Toorak, Hawthorn and Kew and properties in Flinders and Red Hill.

The agency is also hosting a special Chinese New Year cocktail evening next week to promote a pair of South Yarra penthouse apartments by developer Michael Yates.

Mr Langley said his preference was to drive the buyers, rather than having them travel separately, because it was a more casual and relaxed environment to talk about their ideal property.

The strongest inquiry for Abercromby’s had been in family homes from $5 million, and penthouse apartments in the $3 million-plus range.

Kay and Burton’s Ross Savas said working at the top-end was very “relationship driven”, and rapports were built over a long time.

“We actually go and visit them [overseas] during the year, and making sure we’re looking after their needs and wants.”

Cashed-up Chinese buyers are no longer just looking at the inner east.

Jellis Craig chief executive Nick Dowling said recently there had been more interest in top-end properties in the inner north, such as Fitzroy and Carlton, and inner south-east such as Malvern and Armadale.

Simon Henry, co-founder of Chinese property portal Juwai, believed Chinese buyer interest in Australia would remain strong in 2016, with the company predicting the total Chinese overseas residential spend to increase by 5 per cent to 15 per cent this year.

Mr Henry said the volatility in the stock market had very little impact on middle-price-bracket buyers in mainland China, who typically didn’t invest in shares.

“If anything, what the stock market [volatility] is reinforcing in Chinese people’s minds is the only safe investment is property,” he said.

What Chinese buyers look for:

– Close to well-known private or reputable public schools

– Renovated homes as opposed to renovator delights

– Preference for newer homes over heritage-listed properties

– Position on a street is important; many will not want to live on a T-junction

– Neighbourhoods with an established Chinese community such as Glen Waverley

– A low-maintenance backyard rather than a sprawling garden