Chinese property buyers sharpen focus on Portugal and Singapore, shun four spots troubled by geopolitical risks
- Chinese buyers have rushed for homes in Lisbon to beat year-end deadline under Portugal’s ‘golden visa’ scheme; topped foreign purchases of flats in Singapore
- They have withdrawn from markets in the US, UK, Australia and Japan over the past two to three years since political ties worsened
While the Covid-19 pandemic has tempered overseas trips, it has not deterred investors from hunting for overseas assets. Enriched by the recent stock market boom, they have sought long-term foreign residencies through passport-for-cash schemes, or diversified their investment basket into less volatile markets.
“Many of the [mainland Chinese] buyers who are active this year are already in their destination markets and are purchasing at a more rapid rate because they intend to stay there,” said Georg Chmiel, executive chairman of property portal Juwai IQI. “Some others are purchasing as part of the golden visa process.”
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Chinese investors accounted for US$21.7 billion or 5 per cent of global real estate investment activity from January to September this year, according to Real Capital Analytics (RCA), which tracks deals costing more than US$10 million. They contributed US$41.7 billion or 4 per cent of the total in 2019.