The Diplomat: China’s Great Property Wall
China restricts foreign purchases of homes and other property. “The contrast between what Chinese real estate investors can access in the United States, and what American and other foreign buyers can access in China, is stark,” explains Bonnie Girard for the Diplomat. “Non-Chinese nationals cannot buy property in China unless they live in China under resident visas. Even then, a foreigner in most major Chinese cities cannot own more than one property in that city.” Residency is required. Girard suggests that the United States and other nations that freely open their property markets to Chinese buyers could push the issue and find an open ear within the Trump administration. China is not alone – Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Switzerland and Canada impose new restrictions and taxes on foreign purchasers. Some real estate experts suggest that real estate purchases in China may not be the best investment due to prices and the government’s ability to change laws without notice. – YaleGlobal
The Diplomat: China’s Great Property Wall
Next trade battle? Chinese lead among foreign purchasers of US property, but foreigners confront restrictions in purchasing Chinese property
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Read the article from the Diplomat about restrictions on foreign purchasers of property in China.
Bonnie Girard has lived and worked in China for half of her adult life, beginning in 1987 when she studied at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing. In 1996, after nine years in China and having worked for European multinational telecommunications companies in their China sales and operations throughout the country, she founded China Channel, the first independent consultancy providing due diligence for foreign companies coming into the Chinese market.
Findings from the 2017 and 2018 Profile of International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate from the National Association of Realtors:
- For the sixth consecutive year, China exceeded all other countries in dollar volume of purchases, buying about $30.4 billion worth of residential property in 2018, a decrease of 4 percent from 2017.
- Foreign buying is most active in three states, as Florida (19 percent), California (14 percent) and Texas (9 percent) followed by Arizona and New York (both 5 percent).
- The 2017 average price of properties purchased by foreign buyers was $536,852, more than the average price of $277,733 of all U.S. existing home sales.
- The bulk of buyers from China are resident buyers.
- Most non-resident foreign buyers made an all-cash purchase (72 percent), while a smaller fraction of resident foreign buyers paid all-cash (35 percent).
- Real house price growth for 2016 was higher in China than in the United Sates.
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