Wealthy Chinese become leading players in US realty market

Los Angeles is home to 1.3 million people of Chinese ethnicity.
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Wealthy individuals from China are now becoming the biggest buyers of real estate in the United States, reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.

There are currently about 960,000 millionaires in China today, according to the Hurun Report, the China-based equivalent of the Forbes rich list, which defines a millionaire as someone with assets of over 10 million yuan (US$1.57 million). As people in China view property as a solid investment to preserve their wealth, immigration consultant Yao Hongen told Duowei that those millionaires are all potential customers for real estate in the United States and Canada. Another reason to buy properties overseas is because of the absence of restrictions on buying homes that apply in China.

Cities with a large ethnic Chinese population such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco are often the first places Chinese nationals consider when purchasing a property overseas. That way they are able to enjoy life in America while still being able to communicate with others in their native language. Chinese millionaires also invest their money in states like Nevada and Florida because larger houses are available for less. Finally, they will consider buying houses anywhere they have relatives, so they can ask their family members to take care of the properties in their absence.

On average it can cost US$200,000 for someone in China to purchase a house in the United States, but the price may be more like US$500,000 in major cities like New York and Los Angeles. About US$7.4 billion was spent by Chinese nationals last year on homes in the United States. In the view of many real estate agents in the country, wealthy Chinese have made the greatest contribution to the US economy following the financial crisis of 2008, which began with the subprime mortgage crisis.