How much money can Chinese people make investing in overseas real estate? The answer for one mainlander turned New Zealand developer is, “Enough to buy your own private island.”
Property developer Wendy Wei Mei Wu recently purchased Slipper Island, a 217 hectare resort spot 4 km off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island, for NZ$7.5 million ($5.7 million), complete with six houses, an airstrip and some of the country’s finest beaches.
The millionaire real estate investor, who officially lists her occupation as “housewife” but sits on the board of several New Zealand companies, apparently has no clear plan for using the private island.
The purchase of the island 4 km off the coast from the town of Coromandel comes after Wu made headlines for the biggest home purchase of 2010 when the property baroness spent NZ$15 million ($11.4 million) buying a historic 4,036 square metre mansion that included an indoor pool, tennis court, and views of Auckland harbour.
According to Wu’s daughter, who is a real estate agent, her mother “just loves the island” and “it’s a toy for her.”
Chinese Buying More High Profile Properties
Wu’s purchase of the island pales in value when compared to $95 million that a Chinese airline executive paid for a pair of apartments in New York, or even to the $19 million that an anonymous mainlander paid for a new condo in Melbourne, Australia. But neither of those purchases came with their own airstrip.
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