Money

Curbs give a fillip to overseas realty buys

By Karen Yip (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-27 10:23
Large Medium Small

Curbs give a fillip to overseas realty buys

A sales broker at a real estate agent replaces a property advertisement in the company's window display in London. The strengthening of the yuan against major currencies in the past two years has meant Chinese buyers can acquire real estate assets abroad at a bargain. [Agencies]

BEIJING - Ask self-made millionaire Calvin Wang Fu what he's buying at the moment and his answer would certainly be property, property and property. "I wanted to purchase the whole block of apartments but because two units were already sold to different owners, I bought five units instead."

He was referring to residential units in London that he bought recently without ever seeing them. Nor has he been to London before. That's not boasting.

Equating his buying spree to a game of Monopoly, he has four commercial units and several luxury apartments in Hong Kong, on top of residential units in Canada, before recently acquiring five units of apartments adjacent to London's financial district. He's not stopping, yet.

Wang is eyeing more buy opportunities in London and Singapore this year. Currently collecting rent from a multinational, regional bank and a food and beverage outlet in Hong Kong, he's keen to add more commercial units to his stable of properties.

The low profile, high-net-worth businessman and investor from mainland co-owns a mining company in Jiangxi - a southern Chinese province rich in mineral resources - and is also a real estate developer in China.

He started investing in real estate outside the mainland in 2003 for better capital gains from sale or rental yields. Wang estimates that the total market value of all his real estate assets is around $26 million.

Overseas real estate purchases by Chinese are expected to see little effect from the latest move by the Chinese government to stop banks from giving out loans to those who are buying third homes in mainland cities that experience excessive property price gains. Lending to non-residents without tax returns or social security contributions have also been suspended.

"The new policy is to stop the speculators and I don't think it will stop the genuine buyers as they have the cash. And they could get loans from foreign banks in other countries to acquire properties abroad as these people can show strong financial standing," said Amous Lee, director of international investment in China at Knight Frank, a global property advisory firm and developer.

Albeit a minority group, Wang is part of a new breed of self-made, wealthy Chinese who is redefining the profile of property buyers in the global market. From the upper-middle class and with the financial muscles to own two to three or more properties in China and overseas, they are mainly from developed cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, said Lee.

Top destinations for purchases are in the prime cities of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Singapore. Other Southeast Asian nations are also beginning to see inflow of Chinese money but purchases are limited and contained to Bangkok, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur and Bali.

Most property markets experienced a horrendous time during the 2008 global economic crisis. The silver lining for investors has been the chance to return to markets at what hopefully represents the low point of the cycle.

The strengthening of the yuan against major currencies in the past two years has also meant Chinese buyers could acquire real estate assets abroad at a bargain.

When compared to the yuan in the two years from January 2008 to 2010, the value of the pound decreased by 28 percent, the euro depreciated by 14 percent, the US dollar declined by 6.5 percent, while the Australian dollar lost 2 percent.

For cash-rich investors ultra-low interest rates have meant bank deposits have looked distinctly unattractive, while the low yields on bonds and volatility in the stock market have given additional pause for thought.

Related readings:
Curbs give a fillip to overseas realty buys China's real estate time bomb ticking
Curbs give a fillip to overseas realty buys Real estate market cools down in Shanghai on government moves
Curbs give a fillip to overseas realty buys China real estate bazaar drowns out govt warnings
Curbs give a fillip to overseas realty buys Real estate broker enjoying the ride

Added to this, the impact of the financial crash has not been as hard on the typical ultra-high-net-worth buyer of prime property. This has meant that many wealthy owners of property are again looking for investments, said Michael McPartland, managing director and head of residential real estate at Citi Private Bank.

"The wealth market is relatively insulated. Our clients look for opportunities when everyone else is circling the wagons. Buying becomes opportunistic in a downturn, particularly as people turn to hard assets such as property when other assets experience dislocation."

Where and what to buy are obviously key questions given that some sectors and some regions are still seeing prices moving down, while others have bounced so hard that they are nearing the values of the 2007 boom.

主站蜘蛛池模板: 久久男人av资源网站无码软件 | 久久久久成人精品无码| 欧美特黄三级电影aaa免费| 国产成人www免费人成看片| 91久久打屁股调教网站| 免费观看激色视频网站bd | 天天综合天天射| 两个人看的视频播放www| 日本免费网站在线观看| 亚洲AV无码一区二区三区在线播放 | 国产在线观看免费不卡| jealousvue熟睡入侵中| 成全动漫视频在线观看免费高清| 亚洲国产91在线| 毛片免费全部无码播放| 向日葵视频app免费下载| 颤声娇是什么意思| 国产极品美女到高潮| 香蕉免费一级视频在线观看| 国内精品久久久久久影院| caoporn进入| 斗罗大陆动漫完整免费| 亚洲av无码一区二区二三区 | 成av免费大片黄在线观看| 久久久久亚洲av无码尤物| 欧美人与动交片免费播放| 亚洲欧美国产国产综合一区| 热99re久久精品2久久久| 四虎1515hm免费国产| 97在线公开视频| 国产欧美日韩另类精彩视频| 老司机在线精品| 国产精品女同一区二区| 337p日本欧洲亚洲大胆艺术| 国产网站免费看| 91免费国产在线观看| 国产麻豆媒一区一区二区三区| 一级一级人与动毛片| 成人免费无码精品国产电影| 中文字幕亚洲电影| 日本精a在线观看|