a good friend of mine bought into a "picturesque " landed estate in the outskirts of melbourne and is pretty happy with the transparency of the whole process to date. he intends it as a rental property and told me the rental procedure is also well managed and transparent and expects a yield of 5-6%. he said he will be getting a shortlist of prospective tenants and he even gets to choose the tenant with the best profile to rent his new home to.
Melbourne had launched many projects lately. There are few projects very near the Victoria market that is good for student housing. Yes, the rental market is very well regulated as any default on rentals would mean non compliance to the terms of their visas.
One of the problems is the FIC ruling that foreigners can only buy new properties. That means the exit plan is not good as it is limited to locals in the secondary market. If buy as holiday home is the main idea, then go for a small unit near town center. Unfortunately, Melbourne is not my liking.
If anyone has more experience, pls share.