Wong downplays China buyer housing fears

Labor has described as "overblown" fears that Chinese investors are pushing up property prices and locking first home buyers out of the market.

A parliamentary committee is examining overseas investment in residential real estate, as Liberal chairwoman Kelly O'Dwyer complains the Foreign Investment Review Board is not enforcing restrictions.

But Labor trade spokeswoman Penny Wong said debate over housing affordability needed to deal with facts "and not with people's fears".

"I think there's some overblown anecdotes about the effect of Chinese or foreign investment on property prices," she told Sky News.

"It doesn't seem to me .... that's the primary issue driving housing affordability."