Desperate Chinese Investors Flood US, Canadian Housing Markets, But Real Numbers Are Taboo

[marmar]

Desperate Chinese Investors Flood US, Canadian Housing Markets, But Real Numbers Are Taboo
by Wolf Richter • March 24, 2016


[font color="blue"]In Vancouver, 33% of sales are to Chinese investors (National Bank)[/font]

Buying a home in the US or Canada has been an effective way for foreign residents to launder some money and get their wealth out of harm’s way. In the trophy markets on the US West Coast and in the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Toronto, rumors of a massive influx of Chinese money have swirled with growing intensity for years.

The Chinese economic elite are worried about a devaluation of the yuan. They’re worried about getting rolled up by their own government. They’re worried about markets collapsing. They’re worried about pollution. They’re worried about a million things. They have one foot out the door. If push comes to shove, they’re ready to make the move.

So capital flight from China has turned into a tsunami. And this money has to go somewhere.

The meme is this: These desperate buyers prefer a higher price because it’s more efficient for them to get their money out. This pumps up prices. Which impresses other Chinese investors, and they flock in ever greater numbers to those markets. American-Chinese businesses have sprung up to cater to them with special packages that take care of everything, including travel arrangements.

The real estate industry, benefiting from higher prices and higher unit sales, has largely downplayed this trend. Realtors and sellers love moneyed buyers and are not inclined to ask too many questions. ................(more)

http://wolfstreet.com/2016/03/24/chinese-buyers-invade-vancouvers-housing-market-study/

[2naSalit]

1. They're buying everything

in sight around my neck of the woods. It's a gold mine area, property values never go down, an anomalous market, and two national parks in the immediate vicinity... and the sales are primarily being made by Chinese investors and large corporations. The little tourist town nearby is soon to be transformed into another Jackson Hole, WY where the billionaires will be forcing out the millionaires and the help will have to come in from some other town where they can afford the rent if they live in communes. What follows is the privatization of the parks including resource harvesting.

[Warpy]

2. They can only buy 70 year leases in China

so they're flocking to all the big cities including London and Paris and buying up everything they can get. Unless cities want to be unlivable ghost towns with hyperinflated housing and none of the workers who actually keep a city going, they're going to have to get tough on foreign buyers who "invest" in these properties and then keep them empty or try to rent them at highly inflated prices.

After all, our home grown 1%ers have done enough damage.