China's real estate scenario has been grim for nearly a decade now, with the government trying to impose stringent property rules in an effort to prevent - or at least brace for - a market crash. As a result, Chinese investors have set their sights abroad, and in particular on the emerging real estate markets of the United States.
Chinese investment in the American real estate sector has been gaining momentum for a while now. In 2013, China Vanke, the biggest property firm of the country, and even China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) ventured into investment deals with America.
And it's not just the bigwigs that are expanding their interests in the country. Wealthy Chinese citizens have also started buying properties outside due to restrictive rules of asset acquisition.
A report by the National Association of Realtors revealed that China spent about $8.2 billion in 2012 on American real estate, generating about $492 million in commissions for real estate agents in the country. In 2013, the country's investment doubled to $14 billion, reports Businessweek.
All told, China is the third largest foreign real estate buyer in America after Mexico and the Philippines, with a CBRE report predicting that, in the coming years, China may end up spending more than $178 billion on properties abroad.
Considering the exodus of Chinese investment in the country, Juawi.com compiled a list of the 10 most attractive destinations in the United States for Chinese property searchers. The website made the list based on the amount of interest in a city and user activity on their site.
1. New York
2. Los Angeles
3. Philadelphia
4. Detroit
5. Houston
6. Chicago
7. Las Vegas
8. Atlanta
9. San Diego
10. Memphis
"Chinese are widely interested in the U.S. markets. The data shows they are investing in many places and in greater amounts than most people realize," says Andrew Taylor, co-CEO of Juwai.com, an international property website for Chinese buyers, according to NAR.
What's more, experts believe that interest from the "Middle Kingdom" will stay strong throughout the coming year.
"We expect Chinese interest in U.S. assets to remain strong in 2014 because of aggressive economic reforms in China, a more liberal policy environment for Chinese outbound investors, and a positive outlook for the U.S. economy," Thilo Hanemann and Cassie Gao, analysts for Rhodium Group, wrote in an outlook released early January.
