Homebuyers ready to snap up US bargains

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-31 10:05

Chinese homebuyers are gearing up for visits to the US in February to buy cheap homes to take advantage of the real estate plunge on the other side of the globe.

A pioneering house-buying team of 20-30 people, organized by Soufun.com, one of the largest real estate portals in China, is scheduled to leave for the US on Feb 12, the opening day of the 2009 annual meeting of China's real estate industry, an article on Soufun.com said.

More than 300 Chinese have registered so far on the website for a 10-day house-buying trip.

The US mortgage crisis and the downturn in the global economy have presented Chinese people with a golden opportunity, said Liu Jian, an official of the Beijing-based real estate portal.

The trip, costing up to 25,000 yuan ($3,500) per person, will focus on cities with huge ethnic Chinese populations including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York, Liu said.

The prices of the houses targeted by Chinese buyers are between 3-5 million yuan ($400,000-700,000), he said.

About 60 percent of the applicants were real estate professionals and their main purpose of the trip was to investigate the US real estate market to consider their investment needs. The rest were mainly parents who wanted to buy houses for their children who are studying or will study in the US.