"I must say I think there has been a failure of leadership in FIRB," she said. "I think they have not been proactive in the way they have gone about their role.

"I do understand that they have limited number of people," Ms O'Dwyer said. "I don't think that, though, excuses them for not following through with the current regime that is in place and has been in place for a period of time now."

Ms O'Dwyer is leading a joint Coalition and Labor committee – due to report in October – considering changes to make it harder for foreign property buyers. These include imposing extra stamp duty on overseas investors, as Singapore has done, or a charge on FIRB approvals.

With the busiest season for real estate sales under way, community concern is growing that cashed-up mainland Chinese buyers are pricing Australians out of their own market. Economists have said, however, that American and British corporate buyers are just as prevalent when it comes to high-end properties, while the Chinese are more likely to buy purpose-built, high-density inner-city apartments.

These types of developments are often built with Chinese money and marketed directly at potential buyers from China.