Asian buyers salvaging US housing market

Chinese buyers are helping the
American property market to recover by snapping up luxury overseas property in
the country.  Bloomberg News
reports that Florida, California, Hawaii and New York have seen an increase in
house sales thanks to buyers from China.

Chinese buyers account for almost one in ten property purchases in USA

An increase in the number of
Chinese buyers purchasing luxury overseas property in the USA has been
attributed to increased regulation of the second home market in China as well
as the education and investment opportunities offered by property in the USA.

A survey by the National
Association of Realtors has found that Chinese buyers accounted for 9 per cent
of foreign home purchases in the years ending March 2010 and March 2011.  That represents an increase from just 5
per cent in 2009. 

Mo Tianquan, founder and chairman
of Beijing-based SouFun Holdings Ltd – a company that runs China’s biggest real
estate website – said: “The purchase restrictions in China drove them overseas,
while they look for investments to counter the inflation.

“Some of them will buy homes
considering better education opportunities for their kids, while others look
for immigration options.”

Chinese buyers seeking good property investments

As well as looking for good value
property to buy considering significant price rises at home, Chinese buyers
also understand that luxury homes in the USA can provide an excellent
investment.

Andrew Waite, publisher of Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine
told Bloomberg: “The majority of these buyers are not buying trophy properties,
but cash flow as they understand fundamentals.

“They are buying managed
turn key rental properties. One of my clients is selling about 25 homes a month
to Asian buyers at an average price point of $60,000 (£37,340) with positive
cash flow.  They understand that
rental real estate offers one of the few inflation indexed assets available
with inflation-indexed income.”

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