Forbes
Ever wonder why New York real estate prices are so high? Well, sure there is an issue of space, and the fact that New York is a world city with people from Russia and China gobbling up apartments like Pacman enroute to a power pellet. But one of the biggest supporters of real estate pricing these days is the Chinese buyer.
Foreign purchases jumped to 35% last year, and Chinese customers led the way with $22 billion out of the $92.2 billion total spent by foreign buyers in the U.S. real estate market, according to a report published July 8 by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
From April 2012-March 2013, Chinese buyers spent approximately $12.8 billion in the U.S. housing market, according to the NAR, and the previous year foreign buyers spent $68.2 billion on U.S. real estate.