Chinese investors have released around $1 billion in US real estate as they heed calls by Beijing to ease the pressure of debt. Reeling from a trade dispute with the US, China is also implementing measures to keep money domestically. This is the aim of creating a buffer should the economy really suffer from the backlash of the economic dispute between the US and China.
The investors were encouraged to sell off their properties, a collective worth of $1.05 billion in US real estate, in the third quarter. These and more as Wall Street Journal further reported around $231 million worth of property was also bought during the period, effectively selling more than they bought. In an interesting turn of events, the Chinese topped Americans as net sellers of commercial properties in the US.
The situation became such as Chinese investors have bought everything that the US real estate market had to offer. Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco emerged as prime destinations for these investors. However, most of them have chosen to heed the calls of the Chinese government to curb spending. It might appear alarming, in some areas, but analysts like Real Capital Analytics' Jim Costello said that it was more an issue of trying to save for hard times rather than issues against the US.
Interestingly, the trend will possibly continue well into 2019. While Chinese investors and the Chinese, in general, don't hate the US, the US appears hell-bent on securing their trade wall and forcing China into accepting terms. US president Donald Trump hasn't made it clear that the concessions will soften, and it is highly likely that China will retaliate to protect the interest of its people.
These are found in Value Walk's assessment of the global economic landscape in 2019. Aside from the escalation of the tariff dispute, predictions for blockchain's inclusion in major transactions have managed to stay in the positive. The ten-year-old cryptocurrency technology made headlines in 2017 when trade prices started to rise up to values of 1,375 percent. With its use being explored for real estate, the 'crypto' in currency might be dropped not before long.
There are rare cases of investors not heeding the call of the government to ease spending, however. Such is the case of Chinese investors in Site Centers Corp.-owned property, where the investors bought into the stake of 10 shopping centers.
