Chinese buyers are back in the Bay Area

[JaiBalayyaaa]

Chinese buyers are back in the Bay Area

After being sidelined by politics and pandemic, Chinese buyers have returned to the house hunt

In many ways, Bay Area Compass agent Marie Wang’s recent clients were typical of the other Chinese buyers whose numbers she says have doubled since late last year.

They were only interested in new construction. They had been stuck in China since the pandemic, but were now able to fly in from Shanghai for tours. Their personal and business connections were concentrated in the San Francisco Peninsula, so that’s where they focused their search — with extra attention on cities with name-brand cache back home. They also arrived well apprised of the area’s recent precipitous price drops and on the lookout for a deal, she said.

 

But in one very important way they were different from the other Chinese clients that Wang — who speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese — usually represents. While her average buyer has a $1-million to $3-million price range, these buyers had a budget over $10 million. 

Given the lack of inventory this early in the spring, and the even more sparse listings for new construction homes at that price point, she had only two houses to show them. One was in Palo Alto and still under construction. They bought the other one, in Atherton, already built and on a bigger lot, in an all-cash deal for $12.5 million, about $400,000 under asking. 

More wealthy Chinese buyers are finding everything they’re looking for on the tony towns of the Peninsula, according to local agents who say the nascent trend started at the end of last year and ramped up this spring. 

Their stories point toward what national figures also show: that after years of being sidelined by politics and pandemic, Chinese buyers are on the house hunt, and local buyers may have missed their chance to bid without international competition. 

A Red Tide Rises, Then Falls 

The peak year for international investment in U.S. real estate was 2017, with over $150 billion in foreign buyer purchases, according to the National Association of Realtors data. Chinese buyers — which the NAR defines as those from the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan — beat Canada and Mexico for the share of most international buyers in the country between 2015 and 2018 with about 15% of all foreign buyer purchases. 

More than half of Chinese buyers prefer the suburbs, and one-third had their sights set on California, according to the NAR report, by far the highest percentage of any U.S. destination. 

[stonks_pro]

2 hours ago, JaiBalayyaaa said:

Chinese buyers are back in the Bay Area

After being sidelined by politics and pandemic, Chinese buyers have returned to the house hunt

In many ways, Bay Area Compass agent Marie Wang’s recent clients were typical of the other Chinese buyers whose numbers she says have doubled since late last year.

They were only interested in new construction. They had been stuck in China since the pandemic, but were now able to fly in from Shanghai for tours. Their personal and business connections were concentrated in the San Francisco Peninsula, so that’s where they focused their search — with extra attention on cities with name-brand cache back home. They also arrived well apprised of the area’s recent precipitous price drops and on the lookout for a deal, she said.

 

But in one very important way they were different from the other Chinese clients that Wang — who speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese — usually represents. While her average buyer has a $1-million to $3-million price range, these buyers had a budget over $10 million. 

Given the lack of inventory this early in the spring, and the even more sparse listings for new construction homes at that price point, she had only two houses to show them. One was in Palo Alto and still under construction. They bought the other one, in Atherton, already built and on a bigger lot, in an all-cash deal for $12.5 million, about $400,000 under asking. 

More wealthy Chinese buyers are finding everything they’re looking for on the tony towns of the Peninsula, according to local agents who say the nascent trend started at the end of last year and ramped up this spring. 

Their stories point toward what national figures also show: that after years of being sidelined by politics and pandemic, Chinese buyers are on the house hunt, and local buyers may have missed their chance to bid without international competition. 

A Red Tide Rises, Then Falls 

The peak year for international investment in U.S. real estate was 2017, with over $150 billion in foreign buyer purchases, according to the National Association of Realtors data. Chinese buyers — which the NAR defines as those from the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan — beat Canada and Mexico for the share of most international buyers in the country between 2015 and 2018 with about 15% of all foreign buyer purchases. 

More than half of Chinese buyers prefer the suburbs, and one-third had their sights set on California, according to the NAR report, by far the highest percentage of any U.S. destination. 

Crazy ya 

https://redf.in/ie77IL
 

this is the Atherton home that the agent referred in the article 

[JaiBalayyaaa]

8 hours ago, stonks_pro said:

Crazy ya 

https://redf.in/ie77IL
 

this is the Atherton home that the agent referred in the article 

Crazy