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I would suspect a few of these wealthy foreigners buying property are trying to make sure there wealth is tied up in something their home state cannot take away

I would suspect a few of these wealthy foreigners buying property are trying to make sure there wealth is tied up in something their home state cannot take away ownership of. If it depreciates a bit, it's probably fine. 97% of something is better than nothing. I also suspect they have nice stock portfolios already as well.

cgb223 9y ago
Makes sense A lot of Chinese nationals are buying property in the states and Canada in order to accomplish the same thing I wonder how this kind of cash parking affects property values?
- sulam 9y ago
  You wonder? It's easy to guess. They go up. A lot. But you don't have to guess, just look at property values for anything at all nice in Vancouver. Practically the whole city could not afford to buy a house there on their current income.
- ikeyany 9y ago
  > I wonder how this kind of cash parking affects property values? Go look at housing prices in every city on the west coast.
- minikomi 9y ago
  Is it possible to create "real estate" which is basically geared towards this kind of thing? Eg. a large vertical block of tiny, tiny rooms which are just good enough to be livable, but with extremely expensive components.. designed to be parked and traded and never lived in.
  - hkmurakami 9y ago
    Such highrises seem to exist in china. (Refer to their real estate speculation bubble)
s3nnyy 9y ago
OP here: I heard from people working in hotels that some expensive ones loose millions each year but wealthy people from Arab countries who own them don't care.
- marklit 9y ago
  Their assets in Switzerland would be priced in CHF. It could be a good diversification from USD-priced assets they have at home. There was a single-day 30% pop in CHF a few years back.
  - charlesdm 9y ago
    That generally also has an immediate negative effect on higher end property prices, though. The recent decline of sterling is great for foreigners interesten in acquiring London property -- London will always be London, brexit or no brexit. But it just got a lot more interesting for foreigners with businesses (or investments) abroad to relocate there.

cgb223 9y ago

Makes sense A lot of Chinese nationals are buying property in the states and Canada in order to accomplish the same thing I wonder how this kind of cash parking affects property values?

sulam 9y ago
You wonder? It's easy to guess. They go up. A lot. But you don't have to guess, just look at property values for anything at all nice in Vancouver. Practically the whole city could not afford to buy a house there on their current income.
ikeyany 9y ago
> I wonder how this kind of cash parking affects property values? Go look at housing prices in every city on the west coast.
minikomi 9y ago
Is it possible to create "real estate" which is basically geared towards this kind of thing? Eg. a large vertical block of tiny, tiny rooms which are just good enough to be livable, but with extremely expensive components.. designed to be parked and traded and never lived in.
- hkmurakami 9y ago
  Such highrises seem to exist in china. (Refer to their real estate speculation bubble)

s3nnyy 9y ago

OP here: I heard from people working in hotels that some expensive ones loose millions each year but wealthy people from Arab countries who own them don't care.

marklit 9y ago
Their assets in Switzerland would be priced in CHF. It could be a good diversification from USD-priced assets they have at home. There was a single-day 30% pop in CHF a few years back.
- charlesdm 9y ago
  That generally also has an immediate negative effect on higher end property prices, though. The recent decline of sterling is great for foreigners interesten in acquiring London property -- London will always be London, brexit or no brexit. But it just got a lot more interesting for foreigners with businesses (or investments) abroad to relocate there.