Chinese real estate investors have pushed up prices around the world. Canada, Australia, the US and UK have all seen their home prices rise and land sales grow. Now Chinese investors are turning their attention to real estate across Belt and Road countries. This is for a few reasons. Firstly, the on going political spat with Canada and Australia, along with the trade war and tariffs with the US means Chinese investors are looking for other markets, and secondly, there stills seems to be some affordable real estate in emerging markets. 

Uoolu, a platform for cross-border real estate transactions in China, captured the most recent data in a report called “Uoolu 2018 Ten Countries on Belt and Road Property Investment Data Report” which documents how prices change for real estate along the Belt and Road.

The “Belt and Road Initiative” was proposed by the Chinese government in 2013 in order to strengthen the relationship with surrounding Asian countries. Since then, there has been frequent activity between China and other Asian countries in terms of property investment.

In the report, Uoolu selected eight countries in Southeast Asia and two countries in the Middle East along the Belt and Road based on the Cooperative Development Index to assess the investment risk in the Belt and Road Initiative region.

The ten countries were ranked by different criteria such as housing price growth rate and price-to-rent ratio. The data highlights the significant and accessible property markets of the region, as well as the demographics of Chinese investors.

Surprisingly, the primary investors in overseas property are aged between 30 to 49 years old and are mostly from new industries. Investors come from IT, and Internet business accounts for 31% of investors who are open to mobile technology and new services. The new affluent generation has exhibited a short decision-making cycle. 43.56% of Chinese investors only take a week to decide on a property investment, and 67% invest between US$70,000 to $150,000.

The report also reveals that Thailand, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam are the major markets today that receive the most attention from Chinese investors.