Chinese buyers have become the largest source of foreign cash in the US residential real estate market, accounting for nearly one in four dollars spent by foreigners on American housing last year, the National Association of Realtors said in its annual survey of international property sales.
China accounted for $22 billion in international sales for the 12 month period ending March 2014, or 24% of all foreign sales, up from $12.8 billion, or 19%, during the year-earlier period.
Total international property sales rebounded last year to $92.2 billion, according to the NAR’s estimates, up from $68.2 billion in 2013 and $82.5 billion in 2012. The total represented around 7% of the market for all US sales of previously owned homes during the same period.
In recent years, American real-estate markets have been viewed alternately as a safe haven and a bargain amid concerns over geopolitical instability or unsustainable asset values abroad.
US real-estate also continues to be popular thanks to the dollar’s weakness against some currencies, though the currency advantage has dimmed somewhat for Canadian buyers that had been particularly aggressive property buyers in the US in 2011 and 2012. Some agents say that American higher education is also a top draw for some trophy-property buyers.
“Foreign buyers are being enticed to US real estate because of what they recognize as attractive prices, economic stability, and an incredible opportunity for investment in their future,” said Steve Brown, the NAR’s president, who is the co-owner of a real-estate brokerage in Dayton, Ohio.
European and Latin American buyers have helped push prices of South Florida condos to record highs in recent years, while foreign buyers of all stripes have sent prices of new Manhattan developments to astronomical levels. Asian buyers, particularly Chinese, have also been a major force in select property markets in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Overseas buyers tend to hunt for trophy properties. This helps explain why the median purchase price to international clients ($268,284 last year) is significantly higher than for all sales ($199,575). That’s particularly true of Chinese buyers, where the average purchase price topped $590,000 and the median exceeded $523,000. Canadian and Mexican buyers, by contrast, appear to buy much more modest homes.
China was the largest source of transactions on a dollar basis, and it represents the fastest growing buyer segment. But Canada remained the largest share of clients. Canadians accounted for 19% of property buyers last year, down from 23% in the previous year. Chinese accounted for 16% of buyers, up from 12%. The NAR survey includes buyers from Taiwan and Hong Kong in that tally.
The NAR estimates that 35% of Chinese buyers selected homes in California. Around 40% of Canadians bought homes in Florida, while 23% of Canadians bought in Arizona.
Every year, the NAR surveys its members about international clients in order to estimate foreign property purchases in the US. It conducted this year’s survey of 3,547 members for 30 days beginning in mid-April.
据美国媒体报道报道，全美房地产经纪人协会(NAR)7月8日发布报告称，2013年4月至2014年3月的一年时间内，中国人在美国置业总额达220亿美元（约合1363亿元人民币），占外国人在美国置业总额的24%左右，相比前一年的128亿美元飙升71%。
据NAR估计，去年国家买家在美国购房总金额达922亿美元（约合5714亿人民币），相比前一年的682亿美元上涨35%。报告显示，就购买人数和购房数量而言，加拿大人高居榜首，排在第二位的是中国人，其次分别为墨西哥人与英国人。但是，加拿大、墨西哥买家喜欢购买中等水平房屋，而中国买家则更多是购买豪宅，其均价高达59万美元（约合人民币366万元）。
另据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）报道，中国人尤其喜欢现金购房，超75%的中国买家选择现金付款。加利福尼亚州为中国人购房首选地，约占1/3。此外，中国人在美国买房的目的，仅有39%为自住。一些人买房是为了孩子到美国大学读书，认为在美国置业不仅可以节省宿舍的住宿费用，而且等孩子大学毕业的时候，还可能从楼价上涨中获益。另外一些买家则选择在经济低迷的城市低价购房，然后将其出租并赚取租金。还有一部分买家是为了去美国度假时居住，然后在离开美国时再将其出租。
近年来，随着世人对地缘政治不稳定及海外资产价值不可持续的担忧，美国房地产市场一直被视为“安全港”，NAR主席史蒂夫•布朗表示：“国外买家之所以如此热衷于美国房地产是因为他们看重美国具有吸引力的房价、稳定的经济以及巨大的投资潜力。”此外，美国的高等教育也是一大吸引国外买家的重要因素。
