Rising domestic property prices in China have led to properties abroad becoming extremely popular as they offer substantially cheaper prices than in the majority of Chinese cities, according to Chinese paper Southern Weekly.
The paper reports that for the same money paid for a 25.5 sq. metre property in Beijing (around $163,000 USD), an investor can buy a 100 sq. metre property in California.
Zhang Ping, an investor from Guangdong province in the world’s most populated country, was quoted saying that “Any place is cheap, except China”. This investor purchased a San Francisco villa with an annual return of 9%, whilst a house in the city of Guangzhou brings in annual returns of a mere 3% - an illustration of why high net worth Chinese investors are looking elsewhere.
In what has become almost routine for wealthy buyers in the country, buyers from China are now concerned about where to buy, based on which countries can offer the highest returns and how best to avoid tax.
The US seems to be of particular interest for Chinese buyers, with the most popular locations including Los Angeles, New York and Miami in Florida. Rental returns vary dependent on locations – Atlanta in San Francisco, for example, typically can have 8% rental returns, whilst an apartment in Paris, France, can return 10%. France, Portugal and Australia remain popular, as do countries offering immigration status to investors.
