If you had any designs on buying one of the many multi-million dollar condominiums or luxury apartments in New York City, you might be out of luck: with the sanctions the United States has imposed on the wealthy elite of Russia, wealthy Chinese are now sweeping in to buy the properties that the wealthy Russians used to own or no longer can buy.
This is the first time that wealthy Chinese have overtaken wealthy Russians in terms of buying up expensive properties in New York City, but their profligate spending spree isn't limited to the United States: they've been buying up other properties in other Western cities in countries that have imposed sanctions on wealthy Russians, including cities in Europe and Australia.
Many of these Chinese wealthy elite are buying up properties near major universities, such as New York University, Columbia, London School of Economics, etc., so that their children can have convenience and luxury for when they study abroad, even if their children aren't even close to university age.
The investment in western housing is also a financial gain: after the housing bubble popped in the previous decade, housing prices in the west lowered to more affordable levels. Compared to a sprawling, booming urban area like Hong Kong, where luxury housing can cost anywhere between $4,100 and $5,000 USD per square foot, the United States is comparatively cheap: Manhattan can range between $2,100 to $2,500 USD. Thus, the wealthy can buy up multiple properties for the price of what they would have paid for one in East Asia.
This comes on the heels of extensive asset freezes on Vladimir Putin and his wealthy friends, who suddenly find that they no longer have access to the properties and investments that they purchased overseas. It could be one of the reasons Vladimir Putin has, of late, reigned in his vitriolic rhetoric about protecting the Russian-speaking people in Ukraine.
The entire Ukrainian intervention by Russia has, as estimated by the World Trade Organization, slowed the Russian economy to the point where it is projected to have either miniscule economic growth or a shrinking of gross domestic product entirely. It is unclear what Vladimir Putin will do with a shriveling economy and a rising fence to the west.
The Department of Homeland Security has also begun seizing the 'toys' of the wealthy Russians in addition to their housing: boats, cars, planes, etc. are now all under the scrutiny of the DHS. These are not Honda Civics and rowboats either: the cars are sports cars, typically of the Lamborghini or Ferrari variety, and the boats are full-sized yachts.
So when you're looking at one of those multi-million dollar apartments with a view to the financial district or within a stone's throw of Jersey City, be sure to have some extra cash on you, because the wealthy Chinese investors certainly want those properties more than you do.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
