Over one in four new homes built in New South Wales are being bought by foreign buyers, according to research released by financial services company Credit Suisse.

The data, using revenue figures obtained from individual state governments, shows that 26 per cent of new homes sold in New South Wales between September 2016 to June 2017 were purchased by foreign buyers, with Victoria not too far behind with 17 per cent of new property purchases coming from overseas.

Pouring almost $6 billion into residential property in NSW every year ($3.4 billion in Victoria, $0.7 billion in Queensland) with 87 per cent of that coming from China, foreign investors have begun snapping up a large proportion of new homes given they’re prohibited from purchasing existing properties.

Despite the NSW (8 per cent), Victorian (7 per cent) and Queensland (3 per cent) governments all raising their stamp duties for overseas buyers, Credit Suisse research analysts Hasan Tevfik and Peter Liu say this hasn’t put a dent in foreign demand.

“In both states [NSW and Victoria] we see no evidence of a slowdown in foreign demand because of the stronger capital controls introduced by the Chinese authorities in December 2016,” they said.

“Chinese demand for Australian property continues at a strong rate despite the government’s efforts.”

Australia remains such an attractive and viable option – especially to Chinese buyers – as for the most part it remains cheaper than tier one cities in China. Credit Suisse warns, however, that this could soon change.

“An apartment in Sydney is 20 per cent cheaper than one in Shanghai,” they wrote.

“So a sharp and permanent devaluation of the Chinese currency versus the Australian dollar could result in this ‘valuation gap’ closing up.”