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Rich Chinese buyers seeking to put away years of export-earned
dollars have become the biggest foreign contributor to the U.S.
housing market over the past decade.
Deal numbers, however, dropped sank a total of 62% over the last
two years to $11.5 billion in the year to last March, as
President Trump's trade war and nerves over whether buyers and
their families would be guaranteed visas in future weighed.
The National Association of Realtors now estimates that number
could fall further, to between $5 billion and $7 billion in the
current year, depending on whether existing travel restrictions
on arrivals from China are lifted earlier.
"Chinese investment in U.S. homes is likely to continue to
decline," says Gay Cororaton, NAR director of housing and
commercial research.
"There is still a U.S. travel ban on foreign nationals entering
the U.S. from China, and Chinese nationals may also be hesitant
to travel to the United States with coronavirus cases still on
the rise."
While agents say the Trump administration's tussles with Beijing
has cooled appetite over the past four years, U.S. mortgage
rates are at rock bottom and, crucially, the dollar has sunk
over 7% against the yuan since May.
Enquiries about U.S. properties with Chinese international
property firm Juwai IQI are up 12% this year.
"There is still a great deal of pent-up demand," Executive
Chairman Georg Chmiel says. "Chinese buyers have money and they
still value American real estate and the American lifestyle."
(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera and Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru;
editing by Patrick Graham)
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