The real estate market anticipates the increase of more property buyers from China. (Photo : Getty Images)
As the Chinese upper class gets richer, real estate developers forecast that Chinese buyers will eventually buy more properties overseas.
Victor Li, director of international project marketing for the US developer CBRE, said, "China is so big. "I think it is just beginning. You do the figures: China has a population of 1.4 billion. If you target only 1 percent of China's population, that's 14 million people--so it's already almost two Londons."
He added, "China is a big market, you know?" he says. "They are getting wealthier and wealthier."
In one real estate expo, a wealthy Chinese businessman told him that he is eying a property near Thames Barrier in London. The businessman said, "I have one [London property] in Canary Wharf, one in City Island, one in Wembley Park, one in Elephant and Castle."
Real estate players think that there is a new generation of investments coming to China and as growth comes in, businessmen entertain the prospect of having second houses in the U.K.
Charles Pittar, real estate investor and chief executive of Juwai.com, said, "Our thesis--and this is supported by quite a lot of evidence--is that in many ways the international Chinese investment journey is probably just starting."
"It's a big market now, but it is likely to be anywhere from two to four times the size in 10 years' time," he added. "The exciting thing about China is that there are 168 cities with more than a million people. So this is just such a huge market."
The two real estate experts believe that there are many reasons why the rich Chinese like owning houses overseas.
Li said, "Some people are buying for their family to use it. Some are buying to diversify, some are buying because they want to own a property for investment - and some people are buying for prestige, to say: 'I own a piece of property in London.'"
