Chinese Property Buyers Favour Portugal & Singapore
Property investors from mainland China are sharpening their focus on Portugal and Singapore as alternative investment locations, while shifting more money out of traditional markets like the US and Australia and Britain amid concerns about fraying trade relations. While the Covid-19 pandemic has tempered overseas trips, it has not deterred investors from hunting for overseas assets. Enriched by the recent stock market boom, they have sought long-term foreign residencies through passport-for-cash schemes, or diversified their investment basket into less volatile markets. This year, more mainlanders have rushed into Lisbon and Porto before the Portuguese government removes both cities from its “golden visa” programme next year, according to one industry consultant. In Singapore, they became the top foreign buyers of non-landed homes last quarter, official statistics show. Chinese investors accounted for US$21.7 billion or 5 per cent of global real estate investment activity from January to September this year, according to Real Capital Analytics (RCA), which tracks deals costing more than US$10 million. They contributed US$41.7 billion or 4 per cent of the total in 2019. The flow of Chinese capital has been swayed by ongoing political tensions between China and some of its biggest trade partners. Relations with the US and Australia are souring due to sanctions and export bans, prompting mainland investors to look at Singapore and elsewhere to park their wealth. The losers appear to be markets in the US, UK, Australia and Japan, as Chinese investors shunned them to steer clear of unsettling geopolitical risks and the number of Covid-19 cases. Deals involving these four spots have dwindled over the past two years and are likely to remain depressed in the near term, property consultants said.
Tags : INTERNATIONAL Real Estate China Australia Japan Singapore UK COVID-19 United States Portugal Property investor Property buyers