Overseas property portals Rightmove Overseas saw a decline in searches for international real estate in September 2010. The website has recorded some surprising dips in interest with US property searches down by 22.5 per cent. At the same time Chinese investors are reported to be on the hunt for a home overseas as Chinese domestic laws aim to restrict ownership of multiple residences.
Rightmove Overseas says the drop is a result of the traditional post-summer decline in user searches starting early. The country with the sharpest decrease in search was Greece, which lost 24.46 percent. The US followed with a drop of 22.50 percent, while Australia lost 21.83 percent.
But as UK appetite for overseas property appears to be getting smaller the Chinese want to increase their international portfolios. According to Real Capital Analytics, China-based companies have invested $62.6 million in the US real estate market this year. The figure does not include US-based Chinese companies or other intermediaries. Statistics from the US National Association of Realtors also show that investors from China are the most likely foreign investors to purchase US properties valued at $1 million and more.
Li Ye, a 42-year-old company executive, has been thinking about buying an apartment in the US as her company just floated shares on Nasdaq. She believes it is now a good time to buy a house overseas instead of investing in property at home
Apparent winners in property search activity are Italy which recorded the lowest decline of the top five countries, dropping 5.65 percent. Tenerife was the top climber, going up 20 places in the website’s ranking chart after a 3.79 percent.
Overseas property investments at Homesgofast.com