中國買家在馬可盧比奧的佛羅里達州大本營所在地搶購住宅，斥資達61億美元購買美國房地產，連續10年位居美國榜首

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

China's buyers are snapping up abodes in Marco Rubio's Florida home base, splurging US$6.1 billion on US real estate to top US list for 10th year

SCMP Business

Wed, July 20, 2022 at 2:30 AM

The Chinese topped the list of overseas buyers of US homes for the 10th consecutive year, according to the US National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The NAR, which groups together buyers from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said investors spent US$6.1 billion on property purchases in the 12 months ended March, an increase of 27 per from a year ago. Six out of 10 Chinese investors settled their purchases in cash.

Overall, foreign investors bought US$59 billion of residential units, up 8.5 per cent from the previous year and snapping three consecutive years of declines, according to the NAR, which represents 1.5 million members in the residential and commercial real estate industries. International buyers accounted for 2.6 per cent of the US$2.3 trillion property market during the period.

Foreigners acquired 98,600 existing homes, accounting for 1.6 per cent of the total 6.12 million units sold in the period. It was, however, the lowest purchase by overseas buyers since NAR began tracking data in 2009.

"For the second year in a row, restrictions and general caution tied to international travel during the pandemic slowed home buying by wealthier foreign buyers," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

The Chinese have been the largest foreign buyers of US homes since 2013, NAR said. In the last 10 years, Chinese investors have bought US$188.6 billion worth of property, accounting for over a fifth of the total US$906.2 billion investment in the period.

Meanwhile, the increase in US home prices pushed the average and median prices among international buyers to record highs of US$598,200 and US$366,100, respectively. The monthly average existing-home sales price in the US during the period rose 10 per cent to US$374,300.

Chinese buyers' average purchase price of just over US$1 million was the highest among foreign buyers, with nearly a third purchasing property in California.

More than four out of every 10 international buyer transactions were made via all-cash purchases, nearly twice the rate of all such acquisitions. The Canadians were most likely to acquire homes through outright cash purchases, with seven out of 10 paying cash. They were followed by the Chinese at 58 per cent.

While rising interest rates are likely to lead to a decline in overall home sales in the US this year, foreign buyers are likely to step up purchases, said Yun.

"Those making all-cash offers will be immune from changes in interest rates," he said. "In addition, international flights have increased in recent months with the lifting of pandemic-related travel restrictions."

For the 14th straight year, Florida was the top destination for foreign buyers, accounting for about a quarter of all overseas purchases.

Florida is the power base of the Republican senator and former presidential contender Marco Rubio, one of the party's biggest China critics.

Among the 96 Rubio-sponsored bills that have been enacted into law are the Uygur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, and the Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2020, according to data from the US Congress.

California came second, netting 11 per cent of all investment, followed by Texas, Arizona, New York and North Carolina. California and New York were the preferred destinations for two out of every five Chinese buyers.

The outlook for Chinese investment in US property is uncertain, according to Kashif Ansari, co-founder and group CEO of Juwai IQI, pointing to the strengthening dollar.

"It remains to be seen if the almighty US dollar, which has appreciated more than 6 per cent against the Chinese yuan, can stem the investment flow," said Ansari.

Translation

根據美國全國房地產經紀人協會 (NAR) 的數據，中國人連續 10 年位居美國房屋海外買家榜首。

將來自大陸、香港和台灣的買家排在一組的 NAR 表示，在截至 3 月的 12 個月中，投資者在房地產購買上花費了 61 億美元，比一年前增加了 27 個百分點。每 10 名中國投資者中有 6 名以現金結算。

據代表住宅和商業房地產行業 150 萬成員的 NAR 稱，總體而言，外國投資者購買了 590 億美元的住宅單位，比上一年增長 8.5%，並結束了連續三年的下降。在此期間，國際買家佔 2.3 萬億美元房地產市場的 2.6%。

外國人購買了98,600套現房，占同期售出的612萬套的1.6%。然而，這是自 2009 年 NAR 開始追踪數據以來海外買家的最低購買量。

NAR 首席經濟學家Lawrence Yun 表示： “在病毒大流行期間，與國際旅行相關的限制和普遍謹慎連續第二年減緩了較富有的外國買家的購房速度。”

NAR 表示，自 2013 年以來，中國人一直是美國房屋的最大外國買家。過去 10 年，中國投資者購買了價值 1,886 億美元的房產，占同期總投資 9,062 億美元的五分之一以上。

與此同時，美國房價上漲推動國際買家的平均價格和中位數價格分別達到創紀錄的 598,200 美元和 366,100 美元。在此期間，美國的月平均現成屋銷售價格上漲 10% 至 374,300 美元。

中國買家的平均購買價格略高於 100 萬美元，是外國買家中最高的，近三分之一的人在加州購買房產。

每 10 筆國際買家交易中，就有 4 筆以上是通過全現金購買進行的，幾乎是所有此類購買的兩倍。加拿大人最有可能通過直接現金購買購房，十分之七的人支付現金。緊隨其後的是中國人，佔 58%。

Yun表示，雖然利率上升可能會導致今年美國整體房屋銷售下降，但外國買家可能會加大購買力度。

他說: “那些提供全現金出價的人將不受利率變化的影響”; “此外，隨著與病毒大流行相關的旅行限制的取消，最近幾個月國際航班有所增加。”

佛羅里達州連續第 14 年成為外國買家的首選目的地，約佔所有海外採購量的四分之一。

佛羅里達州是共和黨參議員和前總統候選人馬可盧比奧 (Marco Rubio) 的權力基地，他是該黨最大的中國批評者之一。

根據美國的國會數據，在 Rubio 發起的 96 項法案中，已頒布成為法律的有 2020 年維吾爾人權政策法案、2019 年香港人權與民主法案和 2020 年的保護5G 及以外法案。

加利福尼亞位居第二，其投資佔所有投資的 11%，緊隨其後的是德克薩斯、亞利桑那、紐約和北卡羅來納。加州和紐約是五分之二的中國買家的首選目的地。

Juwai IQI 的聯合創始人兼集團首席執行官 Kashif Ansari 指出，中國對美國房地產的投資前景不確定，指向因美元走強。

Ansari說： “所向无敌的美元兌人民幣已升值超過 6%，這能否阻止投資這流，還有待觀察。”

So, the Chinese from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan top the list of overseas buyers of US homes for the 10th consecutive year. In the last 10 years, Chinese investors have bought US$188.6 billion worth of property, accounting for over a fifth of the total US$906.2 billion investment in the period. I am interested in knowing the percentage of mainlanders among the group and the background of these buyers.

Note: Marco Rubio (馬可盧比奧)is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008. (Wikipedia)