Despite the widespread reports of a downturn affecting the Chinese economy, investors from China are continuing to invest in the United States commercial real estate market at a rate that vastly exceeds that of any other country. In fact, Chinese investors allocated more than twice the total investment dollars of the second-highest country, Canada, through the purchase of 47 properties valued at $9.3 billion.
Luke Weil, an experienced investor familiar with foreign investment strategies relating to real estate, would likely suggest that the massive surge in commercial property investment from Chinese investors is likely a product of the economic instability rather than an anomalous figure occurring in spite of the instability. It is entirely possible that these Chinese investors see real estate investment properties in the United States as a safer way to protect their accumulated wealth rather than allowing it to be subjected to a potentially volatile economic climate in China.
Perhaps what is most surprising in the surge of foreign investors snapping up properties is the fact that the commercial real estate market is not viewed as being a particularly strong investment at the moment. Many observers and analysts believe the commercial market’s sustained growth in recent years is due to level off quite substantially and may even be prone to a significant decline in value in the near future. It is not necessarily clear, however, what kind of practical implications that fact may have on the way Chinese investors perceive the health of their own economy.