Chinese Billionaires Pay Record Prices for Manhattan Landmarks

[Patrick C.]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-18/jpmorgan-tower-sale-sets-record-for-chinese-in-new-york.html

[Aaron Mazzrillo]

The Japanese did the same things in the 80s. We did it in the 2000s. We both went bust and so will the Chinese. All bubbles eventually pop and it is true, if you don't learn from history, you are destined to repeat it.

[Jerry W.]

I hope they stay out of SFRs I would hate to try to outbid them for houses :)

[Patrick C.]

Hey Aaron: You look awfully familiar. You used to work on Roppongi-dori?

I think these Chinese want to get their billions out of China before the govt seizes it and the bubble pops there. U.S. seems like a relatively safer place.

[Ruiting Wang]

Been to that building a lot. The last thing a midtown JPMC employee wants is to have a conf there. It is old and needs some renovations. But, Soho China's move earlier this year to buy GM building was a smarter one.

[Jon Klaus]

Will they hold through the down cycle? Probably not.

[Carmen Alexe]

Patrick,

Chinese economy appears to have flourished as a result of less govt intervention and a more predominant capitalistic approach. I highly doubt China will seize its citizens assets anytime soon. I believe the Chinese are buying U.S. assets because they do see value in them.

[Arjun K.]

Chinese have a lot of money. US lets anyone buy here and has best property rights. So they park capital hire. Price is not really a consideration as being a storage of value. These aren't investments per se.

Sort of sucks because these countries don't let US citizens invest in their countries.. so US gets middle-class priced out of Manhattan while Russians and Chinese horse trade amongst themselves. (Not that politicians care, because higher property values = higher tax revenue = bigger government.. and the American voter meanwhile so proud about what political party they are affiliated with don't really care what the issues are).

[Joseph M.]

One question: Do you guys think this meets the '2% rule'?

It looks like the building is being sold for $329.54 per sq ft, which isn't too crazy if you think about prime Manhattan RE costs, but i'm sure office space is probably a lot less than residential rentwise.

"Fosun Chairman Guo’s fortune has jumped 54 percent to $4 billion this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His conglomerate is involved in pharmaceuticals, real estate, steelmaking, retailing, iron ore and gold mining, and financial services. Fosun is also the biggest investor in French resort operator Club Med."

Sounds like he's into a bit of everything!

[Joe Delia]

Lots of cash flowing from out of country buyers.

[Marc Ramsay]

Back before Hong Kong reverted back to Chinese rule in 1997, a lot of money flowed out of there into Vancouver, BC, Canada, to buy hundreds, maybe thousands, of properties sight unseen for way over list price. Many properties were never even listed in Vancouver and only listed in Hong Kong. That drove the prices up here to unheard of levels, and ever since Vancouver has been one of the most expensive places to buy a home. The average house price in the City of Vancouver is now about $700,000, with huge sections of the city where you won't find anything under $1,000,000. It's ridiculous.

At least now they're spreading it around.. :)

[Patrick C.]

Originally posted by Marc Ramsay:

Back before Hong Kong reverted back to Chinese rule in 1997, a lot of money flowed out of there into Vancouver, BC, Canada, to buy hundreds, maybe thousands, of properties sight unseen for way over list price. Many properties were never even listed in Vancouver and only listed in Hong Kong. That drove the prices up here to unheard of levels, and ever since Vancouver has been one of the most expensive places to buy a home. The average house price in the City of Vancouver is now about $700,000, with huge sections of the city where you won't find anything under $1,000,000. It's ridiculous.

At least now they're spreading it around.. :)

Interestingly enough, the developers that stayed home in Hong Kong and bought on the dips all became mega billionaires.

http://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/2013-10-21/aaa/aaaqa

Collectively, they are worth $135.7 billion today.

[Patrick C.]

Originally posted by Carmen Alexe:

Patrick,

Chinese economy appears to have flourished as a result of less govt intervention and a more predominant capitalistic approach. I highly doubt China will seize its citizens assets anytime soon. I believe the Chinese are buying U.S. assets because they do see value in them.

I agree the U.S. is a better value. The choice is a free market-driven economy vs. totalitarian government intervention. Here's the result: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50152767n

[Aaron Mazzrillo]

Originally posted by Patrick Chu:

Hey Aaron: You look awfully familiar. You used to work on Roppongi-dori?

I worked as a DJ & bartender in the mid 90s in nightclubs in Roppongi. I had a Friday night residency at a club near Bar Isn't It?

I also did some work as a fashion model for snowboarding companies. The ads always ran as circulars in the newspapers, but they may have been elsewhere.