China is now the largest foreign buyer of US property.
By Dileep Thekkethil
Chinese nationals are the second largest immigrants in the US and now according to a new study, they have become the largest foreign buyers of US property.
A new study done by the Asia Society and Rosen Consulting Group has found that there was a huge increase in the real-estate buying of Chinese nationals, both commercial and residential, during the last five years amounting to more than $110 billion.
The report says that the contribution of Chinese nationals to the US real estate has helped in the recovery of the market from the economic crisis of 2008.
The positive impact of Chinese investment in real estate also helped other countries like the UK and Australia to come out of the world stock market crisis of 2015, says the report.
The study has found that despite Beijing’s harsh capital outflow stands last year, the overall figures of the decade are said to have doubled to $218 billion.
“What makes China different and noteworthy is the combination of the high volume of investment (and) the breadth of its participation across all real estate categories,†including a “somewhat unique entry into residential purchases,†the study said.
The study is based on the data accessed from public and private real estate industry and according to the authors, they have not taken to account front companies and trusts that do not identify the fund source.
The 111-page report published on Monday compares the foreign investments made in real estate by counties in the US. China ranked third in the list of countries with the highest foreign investment, only next to Canada ($24.6 billion worth of investment) and Singapore ($14.6 billion).
According to the report an estimated $9.5 billion dollars was generated through the EB-5 immigration visa program from Chinese investment capital, which also contributed to the creation of 200,000 jobs since 2010.
Arthur Margon, a partner at RCG and one of the authors of the report says, “This wave of investment is coming from diverse sources in China. But that’s really a small piece of the potential investor universe.â€
Bruce Pickering, VP, Global Programs, Asia Society and Executive Director, Asia Society Northern California and Jonathan Karp, Executive Director, Asia Society Southern California write in the report’s introduction, “Policymakers, business leaders, and the general public in the United States still do not have a comprehensive understanding of the patterns and implications of Chinese investment in the United States. This report paints a clearer picture of what these investments mean for this country.”