Chinese property investors head to the Med
“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.