Wealthy Chinese Bring High End Home Buying Orgy to NYC, BC and Fiji

Purchases of ultra-high end homes by cashed up Chinese buyers has continued during March, with wealthy buyers from the Middle Kingdom picking up private islands in Fiji and Canada, as well as paying $70 million for a Manhattan apartment and $40 million for a Vancouver mansion.

The splurge on luxury real estate comes as China’s newly wealthy population looks for places to park their cash in the face of a slowing economy at home. Although many observers assert that China’s recent crackdown on corruption is also spurring interest in establishing residences outside the country.

Spending $1.8 Million for Deserted Islands

In the most unusal case of the month, two Chinese buyers put up a total of RMB11.5 million ($1.84 million) for three deserted islands via mainland ecommerce platform Taobao.

A construction magnate from southwestern China’s Yunnan province paid RMB4.8 million ($770,000) for a Greek island, and the same ultra-high net worth individual paid RMB1.7 million ($272,000) for an island off the coast of Canada, according to an account on China Radio International.

A businessman from Zhejiang (the home province of Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma) paid RMB 5 million ($800,000) for a 99-year leasehold on an island in Fiji.

Chinese Mystery Buyer Picks Out NYC’s Priciest Apartment

In a more conventional, but still eye-popping transaction in Manhattan, an unnamed Chinese buyer paid the highest price so far this year, and among the highest prices ever, for a New York city apartment by plopping down $70 million for a full floor of a landmark Fifth Avenue building.

The mainlander turned Manhattanite purchased the 18th floor of the Sherry Netherland building on New York’s Upper East Side from Liberty Travel co-founder Gilbert Haroche. The deal is the second most expensive home purchase in New York ever, and the first time that the board of the co-op apartment building has permitted a sale to a foreigner.

Haroche had originally listed the seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom apartment with views of Central Park for $95 million in 2012, according to a story in the New York Post.

Vancouver Mansion Goes for $40 Million

Further west in Vancouver, Chinese buyers are also helping to drive a market that has already seen 39 homes sell for more than C$5 million ($3.91 million) so far this year.

According to an account by the Canadian Broadcasting Corportation, Taiwan businessman Mailin Chen paid C$51.8 million ($40 million) for a 2300 square metre (25,000 square foot) mansion in Vancouver’s Point Grey neighborhood.

Chen is an executive of Chunghwa Investment (Canada) Co., the investment arm of the largest telecom company in Taiwan, and purchased the house, complete with 1.09 hectares of land, a tennis court, waterfall and 10 car garage from Zynga CEO Don Mattrick.