One of the hottest trends in American real estate right now isn’t coming from America. It’s the millions of new Chinese buyers that are investing in residential properties here in the USA. They’re wealthy. They’re motivated. And they’re very savvy when it comes to buying real estate.
Consider the following statistics from China-based global real estate listing site, Juwai.com:
• Chinese are so eager to invest in North American property that sometimes they bring the money with them on the plane. Last summer, a Chinese man was stopped at the airport for having around $177,500 in hundred-dollar bills stuffed in his wallet, pockets and under the lining of his suitcase. In the U.S., Chinese citizens are the top source of airport cash seizures after Americans.
• Chinese are the world’s fastest-growing property buyer demographic. They spent $7.2 billion on overseas property in 2009. This is projected to climb to $114 billion by 2015.
• One-third of Chinese millionaires have assets overseas, and real estate is their preferred asset type, according to research by the Hurun Report.
• China’s economy is still thriving. The country is minting millionaires at a rapid pace. The pool of high net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in China is expected to expand at a 20 percent compound annual growth rate in the next three years, according to McKinsey & Company.
That said, reaching the Chinese buyer of American real estate isn’t as easy as listing your property online or buying an advertisement in a Chinese magazine.
