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I 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 pur

I 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 ago
There 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 ago
  The 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 ago
Isn't a "sovereign" wealth fund effectively the Chinese government investing in Australia?