EXCLUSIVE: The co-founder of China’s leading international property website has warned that real estate agencies and developers should prepare to deal with Chinese buyers now, or risk missing out on future benefits.
In an exclusive statement to Dot Property Group Simon Henry, the co-Founder of Juwai.com, said: “Phuket is a notoriously opaque market but by following the buyers we can get a sense of what’s happening there.
“The past 12 months has seen strong growth in Chinese interest in Phuket, which they have really only discovered in big numbers during the last couple of years.
“By July of this year, Chinese interest was more than four times greater than at the start of the year. It then dropped back a bit in the third quarter before recovering some in November.
“Chinese overseas real estate investment has grown from US$ 5 billion in 2010 to US$ 52 billion during 2014. It is set to increase again by 2020 to US$ 220 billion.”
Henry noted that the China’s government is now considering adopting a formal goal of liberalising its capital controls during the next five years, which would unleash a massive amount of wealth currently restricted to China for international investment.
“The real estate industry in Phuket should use this time to improve its ability to reach and to service buyers from China. A large number of buyers who haven’t yet purchased an overseas property will in the next couple of years begin to have that opportunity.
“Those agents and developers who are in a position to help these buyers will benefit most,” he concluded.
