Wee Hur jumps 5%; shares soar over 14% this week on Australia lifting foreign student cap

[SINGAPORE] Shares of student acccommodation operator Wee Hur rose on Wednesday (Aug 6) on news of Australia raising its cap on foreign students in 2026.

As at 10.20 am, the counter rose to S$0.73, 5 per cent or S$0.035 above its Tuesday closing price of S$0.695, with 9.7 million shares changing hands.

By 10.39 am it had eased slightly to S$0.725, still up from Tuesday’s close by S$0.03 or 4.3 per cent, with some 10.4 million shares having changed hands.

The stock is up more than 14 per cent since Monday, the day the Australian government announced that the country would raise its cap on foreign students by 9 per cent to 295,000 next year and prioritise applicants from South-east Asia.

Wee Hur has eight facilities for purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) in Australia.

Foreign student cap relaxed

Limits on places were announced by Australia in 2024, to rein in record migration that contributed to surging housing prices.

However, as the policy is succeeding in lowering international student numbers, an additional 25,000 places will be granted in 2026, the Australian government said.

After Covid-19, international students flocked to Australia in record numbers, with the country granting nearly 600,000 student visas in FY2023. Students from China and India formed the largest cohorts.

Besides capping these numbers, the government in 2024 more than doubled the foreign student visa fee and swore to close loopholes permitting students to continuously extend their stays.

Australia’s International Education Assistant Minister Julian Hill highlighted that the measures to curb migration were “bearing fruit”, allowing for the cap to be moderately raised in 2026.

Around two-thirds of places will be allocated to universities and one-third to the vocational skills training sector.

Additionally, larger, public universities must demonstrate that domestic and international students have “access to safe and secure housing” and recruit more students from South-east Asia, the Australian government said.

As Australia seeks to reduce economic reliance on China, South-east Asia relations have been a focus of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government.

Hill noted that it was important for Australia’s “future soft power” that the country “continue to bring the best and brightest from (its South-east Asian) neighbours to have a bit of Australia with them for the rest of their life”.

Goh Wee Ping, chief executive of Wee Hur’s fund management business, Wee Hur Capital, said: “The government’s decision to link international student intake with dedicated student accommodation is a smart and necessary step.”

Beds offered by the student accommodation operator ease pressure on the private rental market, he added.

“This policy clarity gives providers like us the confidence to accelerate our pipeline, working alongside universities and cities to ensure international education growth is supported by purpose-built infrastructure – not squeezed into an already tight housing market.”