中國購買220億美元美國房產,引領全球

Foreign buyers of US residential real estate surged 35 percent last year, with Chinese buyers, searching for moderately priced, safe investments in a sea of economic and political uncertainty, outspending the rest of the world.

因爲中國買家在一片政治和經濟不確定的海洋中尋求價格適中的，安全的投資，美國住宅性房地產的外國買家飆升了35%，遠遠超過了世界的其他地區。

Chinese buyers spent $22 billion on US homes in the 12-month period ending in March, or about 24 percent of total foreign sales by dollar value, according to a study released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). That’s up from $12.8 billion, or 19 percent, on the previous year.

根據全國房地產經紀人協會（NAR）週二公佈的一項研究報告，在截至今年三月的十二個月裏，中國買家們花費了220億美元在美國房產上，以美元來算佔海外銷售額的24%。從前一年的128億，佔19%上漲至今。

A $37 million dollar luxury home that is for sale at One Pelican Hill Road North is seen in Newport Beach, California (Reuters/Lori Shepler)

加利福利亞洲紐波特海灘鵜鶘山路，一棟待售的價值3700萬美元的豪華別墅。（路透社 Lori Shepler報道）

Total international purchases of American homes jumped to $92.2 billion, according to the NAR, an increase of $68.2 billion on the year before and $82.5 billion for the year ending in March 2012.

根據NAR，美國房產的總國際購買額上升到922億，與一年前相比增加了682億美元，與截至2012年3月的一年前相比增加了825億美元。

Foreign clients made up about 7 percent of transactions in the $1.2 trillion US real estate market.

外國客戶在1.2萬億交易額的美國房地產市場中佔7%。

Thanks to a surging economy that has seen China rival the United States as the world’s economic superpower, newly affluent Chinese customers are the silver lining in the US real estate market, which is slowly rebounding following the 2008 financial crisis.

感謝經濟的快速增長讓中國成爲和美國匹敵的超級大國。最近富裕的中國顧客成爲了美國自2008年金融危機後回升緩慢的房地產市場上的一線希望。

Chinese buyers, looking for their own piece of the ‘American Dream,’ paid on average $523,148 per property. By comparison, Americans paid an average price of $199,575, according to NAR’s statistics.

中國買家，爲了尋找屬於自己的美國夢，每一處房產平均花費$523，,18。相比下，根據全國房地產經紀人協會的統計，本國人一套房子平均花費在$199,575左右。

Sixteen percent of sales went to Chinese buyers, and is the fastest growing sector, behind Canada at 19 percent, down from 23 percent the year before. Mexico ranked third with 9 percent of sales and India and the UK both accounted for 5 percent.

中國人買入了16%的美國房產，成爲增長最迅速的買方國，僅次於加拿大的19%（之前爲23%）。墨西哥佔了9%的銷售量排名第三。而印度和英國則雙雙佔了5%。

Chinese buyers are mostly flocking to Southern California, with Los Angeles, San Francisco and Irvine as their top three choices, according to the survey. Chinese purchased 32 percent of homes sold to foreign buyers in the state, according to an April survey by the California Association of Realtors.

隨着中國買家蜂擁而至到了加州南部地區，洛杉磯，舊金山和歐文成了最熱門的3座城市。根據4月份加州房地產經紀人協會的調查，在加州銷售給外國人的房子中，中國人佔了32%。

The staircase on a ground floor area of a for sale, $37 million dollar luxury home at One Pelican Hill Road North is seen in Newport Beach, California (Reuters/Lori Shepler)

圖中是一棟待售的價值3700萬美元的豪華別墅的一樓的樓梯，該別墅坐落在加利福利亞洲紐波特海灘鵜鶘山路。

But the Chinese are not alone in their preference for sunny California residences. Buyers from Canada, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and Russia are also investing in the popular – and most populated - US state.

但是，不僅只有中國人對陽光明媚的加利福尼亞住宅感興趣，來自加拿大、印度、英國、澳大利亞、愛爾蘭、俄國的買家們也在該美國最受歡迎且人口最多的州（加利福尼亞州）進行投資。

Foreign interest in the US home market looks set to continue as investors seek out a good deal.

隨着投資者們尋求一筆好的交易，海外對美國房地產市場的興趣將會持續。

"We live in an international marketplace, so while all real estate is local, that does not mean that all property buyers are," NAR President Steve Brown told the Los Angeles Times."Foreign buyers are being enticed to U.S. real estate because of what they recognize as attractive prices, economic stability and an incredible opportunity for investment in their future."

“我們居住在一個國際市場中，所以儘管房地產是在當地，但這並不意味着房地產買家也是如此。”NAR的主席Steve Browng告訴洛杉磯時報。“海外買家被美國房產誘惑是因爲他們認爲美國房產對於他們將來不僅具有吸引人的價格和政治穩定性，同時也是一個不可多得的投資機會”。

Due in large part to an overheated Chinese housing market, Chinese buyers"want to diversify because the housing market over there is just way too hot," William Yu, an economist at the University of California Los Angeles, told the Wall Street Journal.

“很大程度上由於中國過熱的房地產市場，中國買家希望投資多樣化“，William Yu，一個洛杉磯加利福尼亞大學的經濟學教授，告訴華爾街日報。

Political instability also figures into the trend, said Mr. Yu. "There’s no trust in the rule of law,” he said. “If they’re making money, smart people are going to try to keep the money here in case something happens in China."

“政治的不確定也推動了這種趨勢”，Yu先生說道：“那兒不信任法律，如果他們想掙錢，聰明的人就會想辦法將錢留在美國以防中國發生一些變故”。

There is yet another reason for China’s heightened interest in US property: a slowing economy at home.

中國人對美國房地產興趣的提高還存在另一個原因：中國經濟放緩。

New-home prices in China dropped in June for a second straight month as a sluggish economy and excess supply has dampened domestic interest, according to the China Real Estate Index System Survey.

由於不景氣的經濟和超額的供給抑制了內需，根據中國房地產指數系統調查，中國國內新住房的價格在六月已經是連續第二個月下降。

Meanwhile, US house prices have increased 26 percent since March 2012, after tumbling 35 percent from their June 2006 peak, the S&P Case-Shiller Index of 20 cities shows.

與此同時，二十個城市的標普勒席房地產指數表明，在自從2006年6月的峯值跌落35%之後，美國房地產價格從2012年3月開始已經上漲了26%。