Building a Wall Won't Help Here

The number of Chinese homebuyers now surpasses the number from Canada (Barron's)

Hong Kong Chinese were the first wave, many of them taking precautions against a disastrous outcome from the 1997 transfer of sovereignty. For the past two decades, though, we've had an influx of home buyers who originate from mainland China.

Barron's takes notice:

The Chinese again dominated the ranks of international homebuyers in the U.S., solidifying their first-place rank for a second straight year, according to the latest survey from the National Association of Realtors. Chinese buyers bought 29,195 homes in 2016, for a total of about $27 billion.

Remarkably, buyers from China still spent astonishing sums, paying $936,615 on average for homes from California to Texas to New Jersey in the period from April 2015 to March 2016. That’s up from $831,761 the year before — and far more than the average $477,462 paid by all foreign buyers. Another starker point of comparison: The average U.S. home buyer paid only $266,683.

61% of all Chinese homebuyers in 2016 were U.S. residents, up from 53% a year earlier. In other words, the Chinese who are in a position to buy the most U.S. real estate were those living within the U.S., not China.

From 2004: 99 Ranch Market has continued to thrive.

According to the 2010 Census Foster City's population of 30,000 is 45% Asian (in 1980 it was less than 20%). In our little neighborhood so many Chinese have bought homes that the 25-year Hispanic resident across the street complained....and she married a Chinese guy! (They have two lovely daughters by the way.)

So far I've survived in California without speaking Spanish, but I just may have to learn Mandarin...