Los Angeles top pick for wealthy Chinese buying homes abroad, survey suggests

More than 40 per cent of investment overseas by rich Chinese is spent on property, with North America their favourite place to spend, a survey published by the magazine Hurun Report suggests.

The wealthy each spend an average of 6 million yuan (HK$7.6 million) on property abroad, according to the report.

Seven of the top ten favourite cities for wealthy Chinese buyers are in North America, with Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver topping the list.

Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore made up the rest of top ten.

Investing in overseas property was a prominent trend for wealthy Chinese, given the sluggish property market at home, according to Rupert Hoogewerf, the chairman of Hurun Report, which also compiles rankings of China’s rich.

“The main reasons include a stronger renminbi, the relatively skyrocketing price of houses in China’s first-tier cities and the little room for growth in the domestic property market,” he said.

The survey was based on 141 people who have assets averaging 42 million yuan.

They have either moved abroad, or are considering doing so, the report said.

More than half have invested outside China.

One fifth invested overseas to spread risk, while 20 per cent said their purchases abroad were for the sake of their children’s education.

Students from mainland China spent an average of two years studying abroad a decade ago, but many now lived overseas for eight years, said Hoogewerf.

“It has driven up the demand for buying houses abroad,” he said.

Some 38 per cent of the people surveyed who had bought homes overseas purchased family villas, 26 per cent bought apartments, 14 per cent town houses and the rest ranches, islands and even castles.

Nearly half chose homes near prestigious schools, the report said.

Some 23 per cent favoured real estate in areas with a high population of ethnic Chinese.