Rich Chinese Stash Their Cash in America’s Hotels and Strip Malls

Wikimedia/Elyyo

As China’s economy continues to flake, wealthy investors are pouring their money into various real estate asset classes—often without bothering to see them.

In line with this trend, a small group of wealthy Chinese investors just bought a luxury condo project in Westchester County for $10M. “It was a relatively easy deal,” Rick Singer—a New York real-estate investor who introduced the Chinese investors to the project’s developer—tells the Wall Street Journal. “It gave the Chinese what they wanted.”

A combo of easier investment regulations and economic turmoil at home has sent wealthy Chinese investors overseas in pursuit of safer places to keep their money. (No one wants to lose like this guy.)

As a result, the market's seeing unlikely investments coming from China—aside from the headline-grabbing trophy buys—such as small office buildings, chain hotels and other nondescript properties in and around big US cities.

And it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon. China just beat the Canadians as the top foreign buyers of US real estate, capitalizing on the opportunity to get their money out of the government's reach—and harm's way. (Because you also don't want to end up like this guy, either.)

Despite a slight, temporary pullback, Chinese investors could end up spending more than $50B in real estate over the next few years. And that's just in New York. [WSJ]

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