Like the grandparent poster said, it mostly has to do with culture. It's a common thing to buy housing as a place to put money in China, which is why there are

Like the grandparent poster said, it mostly has to do with culture. It's a common thing to buy housing as a place to put money in China, which is why there are whole ghost cities that no one lives in and places where the home ownership rate is 200%, ie on average each person own two homes. They also view buying abroad in places like the US as a safe place to store wealth. http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2013/12/20/ken-deleon-top-silicon-valley-sales-agent-why-chinese-buyers-love-palo-alto/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2013/12/20/ken-deleo... http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/10/28/in-china-theres-not-one-city-sans-terrifying-stretches-of-empty-houses/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/10/28/in-china-the...