China’s property investors raising their budgets for foreign buys

KUALA LUMPUR (May 19): A survey by Australian property investment portal Investorist showed that China’s property investors have raised their average budget for foreign property purchases to US$500,000 (RM2.04 million) this year, compared with just under that amount last year.

According to the survey, more property agencies believe the majority of their sales from China buyers will be over US$500,000.

“The Chinese investors’ pockets are deep and getting deeper. The 2015 China International Property Outlook (survey by Investorist) highlighted that the majority of Chinese investors were looking to spend less than US$500,000. This year, however more than 90% of agencies believe their budgets will be increased,” said the portal.

The survey also listed down what Chinese buyers are looking for and what their biggest consideration is when purchase a property.

According to the report, 39% of Chinese buyers think both the price and location are priority, while they are least concerned with property type (12%) and applicable loan percentage (10%).

“In addition, most Chinese investors wish to use financial leverage where possible. Because of this, the tightening of lending policies, particularly in the US and Australian markets, are becoming a concern for some Chinese investors,” it said.

“There is often a perception that Chinese investors are extremely wealthy and ready to pay over market value for inferior properties with suitcases full of cash. However, the findings in this survey show us that Chinese investors are actually no different from other investors,” said the portal.

“Most Chinese property buyers are assisted by a trusted advisor who have strict selection criteria. Price, location, value for money, are the golden rules followed by most Chinese investor.”

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