Posted on 12/05/2008 4:59:44 PM PST by thetru
Chinese property hunters to raid US By Geoff Dyer in Beijing
Published: December 5 2008 20:10 | Last updated: December 5 2008 20:10
Chinese bargain hunters are preparing to descend on American cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, where homeowners have suffered some of the steepest price falls in the US.
SouFun, the biggest real estate website in China, is organising a trip next month to look at properties in California and possibly Nevada. Liu Jian, the company’s chief operating officer, said about 300 people had expressed interest in the idea in the three days since it was advertised, though the company would take only a small group on the first trip.
EDITOR’S CHOICE China lectures US on economy - Dec-04Lex: US-China dialogue - Dec-04Paulson in last stand against weaker renminbi - Dec-03“Given the problems in the Chinese market now, many people have been asking us about taking a look at overseas markets, especially the US,” he said.
The trip would focus on California, particularly San Francisco and Los Angeles, where big Chinese populations might make his clients more comfortable, but might also include Nevada.
Restrictions on taking money out of China would be an obstacle, he added, but some potential investors had an overseas connection such as a foreign passport that would make it easier.
Property professionals say there is considerable interest among wealthy Chinese, who often hold a high proportion of assets in property, in investing abroad.
“The US market absolutely terrifies me,” said one Shanghai-based real estate executive. “However, there are plenty of people here who think this a great time for bottom-fishing.”
There is opposition in China to SouFun’s plan. “Unless these people need a house in the US to live in, this is senseless,” said Yi Xianrong, a real estate expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “A few years ago there was a lot of talk about investing in German real estate but most of the people who did so lost a lot of money.”
SouFun, owned by Australia’s Telstra, provides information on property markets in more than 100 cities and has more than 40m registered users.
"Buying Amewica is SO FUN! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
yitbos
I pay for a 100,000 Chinese to move to Detroit. Provided they each show a functional AK-47 at customs.
Not a bad idea at all.
Good. Maybe the influx of buyers will help drive home prices back up a bit. (I know low prices are good for buyers, but for those of us watching our equity sink ever lower, higher prices would really be welcome.)
“The Japanese tried this trick, too. How’d they do?”
They bot at the (then) top, buying trophy properties out of hubris. The Chinese (in this case) would clearly be buying at semi-distressed prices, perhaps not the bottom. I’m not telling you that any Chinese buyer is going to walk in and snag a deal. I know of plenty of Chinese who bought small apartment buildings out of a belief that “it’s a way to build LT wealth” who will NEVER achive pos cashflow on them
ping for later
If they move to Detroit they’ll certainly need a functioning AK if not more.
You wrote it before I could. Nice one. BMTA
Kalifornia will hit the new owners up with some hefty taxes, cause Arnie’s broke.
Hell, I’d take 1 million CP members in Detroit, with their AK47s..... they might actually save Detroit and the state of Michigan.
Wiverside Cawifornia.....gawden spot of West Coast!
yitbos
Nice Chinese famiry come live heah.
You get out now. You rive in stleet. We own youa asses.
Dwog? We no see ur dwog.
Eh, you want buy ‘spare rib’, eh? Cheap!
We're all worried about illegal Mexican immigration and rightly so, but the SG Valley has been seeing a big influx of Chinese and other Asians since the early 1990.
When the defense contracts dried up about the beginning of the Wilson administration, the Chinese, mostly from Hong Kong, put $5 billion into Cal and saved us. Maybe some of that will happen again.
Best ChiCom jobs are in the government. What does that say?
What is a bright ChiCom brain? Come to U.S. at 60% off?
yitbos
Try Pebble Beach fiasco!
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