The Australian property market is sophisticated and highly securitized, but it is not very large, with only one or two primary markets, along with a few resource-reliant secondary markets. At the same time, Australia has sophisticated institutional investors that have been investing in property for many decades. Given historical investment habits of Australian investors and current property market conditions in the country, how active are domestic investors — and how active do they need to become — in investing in property overseas in order to meet the performance needs of their portfolios?

It is impossible to consider the Australian property market without also considering the role that institutional investors such as superannuation funds have played in its development and current form.

Australian institutional investors have provided the capital for the development of office buildings, shopping centers, industrial/logistics facilities and n