A new report released by property website Juwai.com has revealed that Chinese buyers invested a record breaking $101.4 billion in overseas property last year.
“2016 marks the first time in history Chinese buyers acquired more than US$100 billion worth of international real estate,” commented the chief of operations at Juwai.com, Sue Jong. “The 2016 total represented more than a quarter increase over 2015, and an 845% surge over five years.”
The USA proved to be the most popular destination for Chinese property investors, with Jong calling the nation a “near-perfect market”.
“It [the USA] received more than US$50 billion, the greatest share of the total mainland Chinese real estate investment last year.”
Australia was the second most popular country for Chinese property investors, with Hong Kong claiming third place.
Despite China’s restrictions, which were introduced to limit outbound property investments, it seems that the outward investment trend is set to continue.
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“Current trends suggest that Chinese property investment this year will be on a par with the levels of 2015, at about US$80 billion. That would make 2017 one of the top two or three years in history,” continued Jong.
“So while levels are lower than in 2016, they will still be extremely high by any standard.”
Restrictions included forbidding foreign investments of over US$10 billion, banning mergers and acquisitions (that are outside a Chinese investor’s core business) worth more than US$1 billion, and stopping overseas property deals by state firms involving over US$1 billion.
