Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC, a unit of Realogy Corp., plans to start business in China’s luxury property by the first half of next year, targeting first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai.
Sotheby’s International Realty has affiliates in 45 countries and regions, including Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam in Asia.
“We’ve had a lot of global growth, but we’ve been very careful with China, because China is such an important emerging economy,” Good told Bloomberg.
“We think it’s very, very important to be measured in our approach and make sure that we better understand the real estate players and the nature of the business in this country.”
China now ranking third behind the U.S. and Japan in terms of the number of millionaire households — a figure that climbed 31% to 1.11 million in 2010 — making moves into the country is perhaps not a surprising step for Sotheby’s to take.
The move will allow Sotheby’s International Realty to tap its network of some of the world’s richest property buyers to invest in China, while connecting the country’s surging riches with the world’s luxury real estate assets.
Sotheby’s CEO Good, for his part, expects his company’s China moves to potentially hearten not only Chinese, but international buyers as well to invest in luxury properties in top-tier China.
Good said he believes the expected 2013 expansion “will allow Sotheby’s International Realty to tap its network of some of the world’s richest property buyers to invest in China, while connecting the country’s surging riches with the world’s luxury real estate assets.”
