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Strange concluding sentence about the prospect of an influx of Chinese investors to rekindle rising rents. Is there evidence that such a trend is likely in the

by czep 10y ago

Strange concluding sentence about the prospect of an influx of Chinese investors to rekindle rising rents. Is there evidence that such a trend is likely in the near future? I have seen reports that a lot of money is expatriated from China into real estate because it's easy to launder that way. In general is it expected to increase so much that it would have a noticeable impact on rents in the major markets?

sitkack 10y ago
Vancouver.
repsilat 10y ago
I have seen reports that a lot of money is expatriated from China into real estate because it's easy to launder that way. I don't know about rents, but overseas investment certainly drive up price to own in Auckland NZ and Vancouver, Canada, though the latter may have stopped due to changing tax policies. Auckland is as big as SF. If you're investing in property overseas you want the value to be stable or increasing, though. I don't think these people are value investors who would jump into a market with declining prices because the houses were suddenly underpriced -- quite the opposite, I think some would rush to get out in that case.
delias_ 10y ago
Irvine, CA has this occurring. 2014 numbers reported that 80% of single family homes in the area were bought by Chinese families (random first google hit article on it: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-30/80-all-new-home-buyers-irvine-are-chinese http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-30/80-all-new-home-buy...). A lot of the Irvine Company apartments top-level units are effectively birthing centers on the down low, but nobody really seems to take much issue with it. There is also a significant rich foreign Saudi presence in Irvine and that's definitely more of a culture clash due to the misogynistic nature of mother/son relationships. Super spoiled kids, "slavery" scandals, etc but the money "donated" to Irvine company for things like renovating the spectrum mall is massive. Considering Irvine company owns ~90% of Irvine, I think this foreign interest can't be overlooked in lieu of the more public Chinese impact.
nullnilvoid 10y ago
Blame it on China. It's all China's fault. China has caused all sorts of problems and will continue to do so until it becomes a "democracy" defined by the U.S.

by czep 10y ago

sitkack 10y ago

Vancouver.

repsilat 10y ago

I have seen reports that a lot of money is expatriated from China into real estate because it's easy to launder that way. I don't know about rents, but overseas investment certainly drive up price to own in Auckland NZ and Vancouver, Canada, though the latter may have stopped due to changing tax policies. Auckland is as big as SF. If you're investing in property overseas you want the value to be stable or increasing, though. I don't think these people are value investors who would jump into a market with declining prices because the houses were suddenly underpriced -- quite the opposite, I think some would rush to get out in that case.

delias_ 10y ago

Irvine, CA has this occurring. 2014 numbers reported that 80% of single family homes in the area were bought by Chinese families (random first google hit article on it: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-30/80-all-new-home-buyers-irvine-are-chinese http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-30/80-all-new-home-buy...). A lot of the Irvine Company apartments top-level units are effectively birthing centers on the down low, but nobody really seems to take much issue with it. There is also a significant rich foreign Saudi presence in Irvine and that's definitely more of a culture clash due to the misogynistic nature of mother/son relationships. Super spoiled kids, "slavery" scandals, etc but the money "donated" to Irvine company for things like renovating the spectrum mall is massive. Considering Irvine company owns ~90% of Irvine, I think this foreign interest can't be overlooked in lieu of the more public Chinese impact.

nullnilvoid 10y ago

Blame it on China. It's all China's fault. China has caused all sorts of problems and will continue to do so until it becomes a "democracy" defined by the U.S.