Wealthy Chinese Flood Market With Special Federal Program

The Chinese are coming here with their money, and, often, with their families. Rather than seeing China as the land of opportunity, more Chinese have been establishing homes in America, particularly in California, where they account for roughly one-third of foreign homebuyers, with upward of 70 percent paying cash. Overall Chinese investment in U.S. real estate has grown from $50 million in 2000 to $14 billion in 2013, surpassing all other foreign investors.

Chinese are buying U.S. homes and investing in U.S. mega-developments. Chinese home shoppers spent $28.6 billion on U.S. homes in the year ending in March, double the amount two years earlier, the National Association of Realtors reported. At least $10 billion of that went to buying homes in California.

In addition, Chinese citizens seeking green cards are a growing source of cash for housing and commercial developments under a federal program known as EB-5. The program allows foreign investors to get permanent U.S. residency for themselves, their spouse and children under 21 if they invest enough to create at least 10 jobs here. EB-5 investors in 2014 claimed the full 10,000-visa allotment by August. This year’s allotment was gone by May. More than 80 percent of the visas are going to Chinese citizens.

Since most foreign investors don’t have the ability to create their own businesses, designated organizations pool cash from multiple investors, funneling the money into job-creating development projects. Minimum investments range from $500,000 to $1 million. The most recent data available shows EB-5 investments totaled almost $2 billion in 2013, of which $317 million was spent in residential and commercial real estate development, according to Invest in the USA, an industry trade group.

EB-5 spending in the county, totaled $25.1 million in 2013, up from $2.1 million, Invest in the USA reported. “It’s very hard to get residency here. EB-5 is a foolproof way,” Fieldstone said. EB-5 money also is helping to finance the Hunters Point Shipyard and Treasure Island projects, two San Francisco housing developments managed by Orange County-based FivePoint Communities, he said.