The Chinese are snapping up real estate in the United States, including $6.1 billion in homes and land last year.
Those buyers include the Chinese Communist Party, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, the U.S. real estate market report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed.
The investors spent an average of $1 million per property transaction, with nearly 31 percent of the purchases involving property in California, according to the report.
The New York Post reported on the NAR report:
Earlier this week, senior economists warned that the US housing market could be on the verge of a “meltdown” following this week’s release of data showing a collapse in home builder confidence in July.
U.S. home builder confidence plummeted 12 points to 55 in July, according to the latest data from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Monday.
“Due to rising interest rates, overall home sales will decline in the US this year,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in the Post report. “Foreign buyers, however, are likely to step up purchases, as those making all-cash offers will be immune from changes in interest rates.”
“In addition, international flights have increased in recent months with the lifting of pandemic-related travel restrictions,” Yun said.
Other top investors in U.S. real estate, in order from second, are Canada ($5.5 billion), India ($3.6 billion), Mexico ($2.9 billion), and Brazil ($1.6 billion).
Florida was the state that has the most real estate purchases, according to the NAR report, and [2021] represents the 14th consecutive year that foreign investors picked that state as a top choice.
Florida accounted for 24 percent of all international real estate purchases in the U.S., with California ranked second at 11 percent.
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