Cash Purchases by Chinese Homebuyers Increase

The amount of Chinese-speaking homebuyers who paid cash for U.S. properties has increased 229 percent in the past 10 years, according to a recent study by RealtyTrac. The study analyzed public sales deeds during a 17-month period in 2014 and 2015, then compared them to 2005 by buyer ethnicity and native language. The study found that in 2005, 14 percent of Mandarin Chinese-speaking buyers who purchased homes in the U.S. paid all cash, but that has risen to 46 percent of all-cash Mandarin Chinese-speaking buyers in 2015.

Overall, all-cash buyers of U.S. homes increased 65 percent, from a 20 percent share in 2005 to a 33 percent share by May 2015. And while overall cash buyers are starting to play a larger role in the housing market, this is especially true for the Mandarin Chinese-speaking buyers who are likely to be foreign nationals. The study says that the increase in all-cash Mandarin-Chinese buyers has likely helped boost U.S. home price appreciation, since they are less financially constrained than many local buyers.

“Cash buyers across the board are playing a much bigger role in the housing market now than they were 10 years ago, and that is particularly true for Mandarin Chinese-speaking cash buyers.” —Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.