Business returns over ideology
Donald Trump speaks during a rally aboard the Battleship USS Iowa in San Pedro, Los Angeles. Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.com
Promises of tariffs against Chinese exports, blaming China for perpetuating a climate change “hoax,” a scathing reference to the nation as the “enemy” — all of US President-elect Donald Trump’s missteps have apparently not turned off most Chinese investors.
Fifty-three percent of Chinese real estate investors still wax positive about owning US property, according to a survey conducted immediately after the elections by East-West Property Advisors. Only 16 percent said they are less likely to buy US property after the real estate mogul’s win last week.
Trump is viewed as a respectable “dealmaker” and businessman, results of the survey showed, as cited by Forbes. Such traits would ultimately lead to gains in the property sector.
“Principles and ideologies will be less important compared to expected business returns,” the report stated.
A survey conducted prior to the elections by property portal Juwai.com showed that most Chinese buyers are not alarmed by a Trump presidency. “Our survey revealed that almost half of Chinese international property buyers think Trump will be good for Chinese investment in the US, and that a majority of US real estate agents who work with international buyers think the same,” Juwai.com chief executive Charles Pittar said in a statement.
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Despite measures by the Chinese government to curb capital flight, Chinese nationals are still the biggest foreign buyers of US residential property, commanding a 26.7 percent share of international home sales, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Conversely, experts expect a shift in investments by US citizens toward safe havens in Asia-Pacific following Trump’s win, which has been dogged with ties to white nationalist movements. “People in the US are likely to look to safe haven markets – Australia will be a beneficiary of this as it is considered to be one of the safest markets in the world,” said REA Group chief economist Nerida Conisbee.
“If Trump does something that registers as truly unsettling to the Chinese international property buyer, that’s when we would see a shift of investment to Australia … most Chinese think Trump is somebody they can work with,” Pittar told The Courier Mail.
Here’s a montage of Trump bringing up China on the campaign trail last year:
Read next: 5 ways a Trump presidency could impact Asia
Source : property-report.com
Read more…Chinese property investors are unlikely Trump fans
