The recent prices for houses in Arcadia and San Marino amaze me. A 1522 sq ft house in Arcadia is going for $960,000.  In San Marino, a 963 sq ft house for $1.2 Million. San Marino has one of the top school districts in CA, and Arcadia is not far behind. And top school districts are a big attraction for ethnic Chinese. And Arcadia and San Marino are in the middle of the San Gabriel Valley, that has a huge Chinese infrastructure - Chinese bakeries, restaurants, banks, etc. Which is why Beverly Hills that also has excellent schools, does not have a large Chinese population.

Chinese buyers are focused on Los Angeles, San Francisco, Irvine, New York, Las Vegas, Detroit, Seattle, Miami, Orlando, Boston Anderson SC, Chicago, Houston, San Diego. Yes, I know, Detroit?

My understanding, is a lot of Chinese are investing in the US as a safe haven, as well as for environmental reasons for their family. The question is if there is a $50,000 limit per year for taking money out of China, how were these housing purchases being made? What I read recently, is some Chinese banks had a special program for sending money out of the country for real estate purchases. CCTV did a recent expose on this, and the program was temporarily stopped. Per the WSJ the program will probably be restarted. A more negative view - Did China Just Crush The US Housing Market? My wife's comment, is Chinese have a lot of relatives, so there is going to be little impact on Chinese buying houses in the US.

Labels: bubble, Chinese Housing, investing