Chinese investment in overseas real estate slowing but still high

A view from street level looking up at the Lloyds Building, Tower 42 and The Gherkin, in London's City business district known as the square mile. [Photo / IC]

Chinese outbound real estate investment has slowed down, and Chinese enterprises now tend to invest in global gateway cities which have good infrastructure.

According to property consultancy Knight Frank, the outbound investment in the real estate market was $10.7 billion in the first half of this year, a 13.6 percent drop from the same period of last year.

Because of increased uncertainties in the global real estate market, 84 percent of the money has been invested in New York, London, Sydney, Melbourne, and Hong Kong. During the same period last year, the figure was 42 percent.

The US remains the top destination for Chinese capital, having attracted $5.1 billion in the first half of 2016, an increase of 21 percent year-on-year, Knight Frank's executive director Paul Hart said.

The Brexit vote has not scared off Chinese investors. In the first half of this year, $1.7 billion in Chinese capital outflows went to the UK property market, soaring 75 percent from the same period last year, according to Paul Hart. 

Although Chinese capital outflows into the Hong Kong property market saw a 9 percent drop to $1.68 billion in the first six months of this year, the city is still hot destination for Chinese investors.

Moreover, Chinese property investment in Australia also fell 37 percent to $1.7billion in the first half of this year.