An extended visa to visit the United States will attract more mainlanders to buy homes there despite the recent slowdown in US home price appreciation.
The Chinese are already the largest or the second-largest group of foreign property buyers in 46 of the 50 states, according to the National Association of Realtors in the United States. Its data shows Chinese investors spent US$22 billion on US real estate, or nearly a quarter of all international sales, in the year to March 2014.
Adding to this strong trend is an agreement signed by Barack Obama and Xi Jinping in November that provides citizens of both countries access to 10-year tourist and business visas, eliminating the hassle of annual renewal.
“It will make a trip much easier. One just needs to buy a ticket and pack,” said Tony Huang, managing director of Shanghai-based Maxview Realty, which helps multinational firms relocate expatriates to China.
He has visited the United States many times for business and is applying an EB-5 visa, which will eventually grant him a green card if he invests US$1,000,000 to create or preserve at least 10 jobs.
A survey by East-West Property Advisors showed 25 per cent of Chinese respondents said the visa extension would directly translate into speedier purchases of US properties
“I plan to buy (a home in the United States) in the second half of this year or early next year,” he told the South China Morning Post. He prefers three cities on the west coast – San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco.