Real estate advisory arm of Korda Mentha have  revealed that the Australian Government’s Significant Investment Visa scheme is booming, with the number of approved visas growing exponentially in the second half of 2013.

The visa requires, a “significant investor” to commit at least $5 million worth of investment into Australia. According to  the Korda Mentha figures, this means that in 2013, the scheme brought in at least $440 million to the Australian economy.

The data follows a report published yesterday by The South China Morning Post that revealed nine out of every ten SIV applicants are from the Chinese mainland. This suggests that 90 per cent of the estimated $440 million came from China.