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> This seems to be a direct result of capital flight from China. It's even happening to tiny PEI in the east we have seen a massive surge of Chinese people (to
by dghughes 11y ago
> This seems to be a direct result of capital flight from China.
It's even happening to tiny PEI in the east we have seen a massive surge of Chinese people (to clarify yes from China) investing in and living in the province.
Five years ago you could walk down the street and it was typical small town Canada last summer I went to a Starbucks and every single person was Chinese. There are now at least two if not three Buddhist monasteries too.
I'm not complaining I like the new investment and more people living here I'm saying it's not just a Vancouver or Toronto thing. Although here it's more business investing here not so much speculative condo buying.
- illumin8 11y agoI wouldn't even say it's speculative condo buying - it's more like treating the condo as a piggy bank. It's considered a safer investment because it can be purchased through a shell company (LLC), hiding the true identity of the buyer, and unlike the funds in a bank account, can't easily be seized. There was a well known phenomenon: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/business/international/chinese-cash-floods-us-real-estate-market.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/business/international/chi... "In London, Chinese investors are purchasing high-end apartments in wealthy neighborhoods and big skyscrapers in the financial district. In Canada, they are paying $1 million for modest Vancouver bungalows. In Australia, a Chinese sovereign wealth fund bought nine office towers, one of the biggest real estate transactions in that nation’s history."
- pkaler 11y agoThere is no such thing as an LLC in Canada. You are either a federal corp or a provincial corp. http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/page/2853/ http://www.canadabusiness.ca/eng/page/2853/
- illumin8 11y agoThe shell company used to purchase high-end property is mainly a strategy I learned about that is prominent in the Manhattan luxury apartment market. If someone like Brad Pitt is buying a $10M condo, and doesn't want his name in the public property records, he will buy it with an LLC. This trick is also used by foreign buyers to hide their identity, especially if their money is a result of criminal activity.
- coke12 11y agoIsn't a "sovereign" wealth fund effectively the Chinese government investing in Australia?
- mkaziz 11y agoPEI of Anne of Green Gables fame? Man, now I wish I had visited it earlier ... it's been a life dream of mine to go see it!