Opinion | Rich Chinese buying property overseas draw resentment from locals
Property investments in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia and Singapore pay off for Chinese buyers, but locals are apparently growing increasingly impatient and unhappy
A taxi diver in Toronto said he remembered seeing Asian-looking men lining up in the rain outside a new residential development, two days before its grand opening.
Intrigued, he approached them and asked some questions.
Many turned out to be Chinese students lining up for interested buyers for some quick cash. Most of the others he tried to talk to were Chinese nationals who couldn’t speak a word of English.
“It was the most mind-blowing scene I’ve ever seen in my life,” the unnamed taxi driver later told his customer, Chinese businessman Zhu Weijun, himself an investor in Canada’s property markets.
It's not just Toronto that was feeling the impact of a stream of wealthy Chinese. Another residential development of 150 units in Canada's New Westminster sold out within two hours of its opening. It turned out 40 per cent of the buyers were Chinese, said a report.
“The locals now blame the Chinese for skyrocketing property prices," said Zhu.