Chinese property investors head to the Med

103064716-GettyImages-470911271.530x298From the Waldorf Astoria in New York to the Marriot Champs-Elysee in Paris, mainland Chinese investors have been snapping up international real estate, both commercial and residential. Now, they are looking to the Mediterranean for opportunities.

“The Chinese investor is looking further afield, they’re looking at where the next growth potential will come from,” Andrew Taylor, co-CEO ofJuwai.com, an international property website for Chinese buyers, told CNBC.

“Over the past year, Spain obtained the greatest number of Chinese buyers, followed by Portugal, Italy and Cyprus while Greece fared the worst, due to its financial crisis,” Taylor added.

According to a CBRE report, Chinese outbound real estate investment saw explosive growth in the past two years, rising above $10 billion in total commercial property transactions in 2014, from $2 billion in 2009.

And estimates from Juwai.com showed Chinese buyers spent $52 billion in outbound residential real estate investments in 2014.

Taylor drew parallels between Chinese outbound real estate investments in Mediterranean countries and the housing boom in China, where the real estate investment demand strengthened in tier one cities before the spreading to the lower tiered cities.

Read More…http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/08/chinese-property-investors-buying-residential-commercial-in-mediterranean.html