Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • They save all the best units for us to sell.

  • You can't even find these units on the website.

  • I've been given access to an event that is selling units inside a luxury Manhattan condominium,

  • a building that hasn't even been completed yet.

  • The building is 125 Greenwich street, it's an 88-story residence going up in New York's financial district.

  • But, this event isn't in New York.

  • It's in Hong Kong.

  • That's why we think the dollar will basically be very strong going forward.

  • The Chinese are the number one foreign buyers of U.S. homes.

  • And it's not uncommon for firms to promote U.S. residential properties to investors

  • in Mainland China and here in Hong Kong.

  • If you want to preserve your wealth, this is the place to be and Manhattan is the place, the key place.

  • This event is hosted by Asia Bankers Club and its several business units.

  • The whole aim is to educate buyers about the New York real estate market, and of course, sell condos.

  • And in some cases, deals happen right on the spot.

  • Damian Sung of Asia Bankers Club is here to educate potential buyers.

  • What happens after the seminar?

  • So after the seminar, people will come out. They'll find their relationship managers.

  • Then they'll sit down and they'll go over picking their units, going over the taxes,

  • any other extra questions they might have.

  • Kingston Lai is the founder and CEO of the company.

  • Well, there's a lot of uncertainty in the market with the trade war and a lot of things going on, so naturally,

  • investors here are looking for safe haven assets where they can actually park their money.

  • ...The U.S., New York is still one of the very few markets to actually still offer financing to Chinese investors.

  • It's not about generating huge growth in their wealth, but it's more about preserving their wealth.

  • That's why they look into New York and the U.S. dollar specifically.

  • Thirty of the 273 units in this building were set aside for these private firms to sell.

  • In fact, at the time of the event, those units weren't even available to U.S. buyers.

  • Scott Allison of real estate company Douglas Elliman says foreign buyers

  • have been an institution in New York for as long as he can remember.

  • You always have one group. If it's not the Japanese, it's the Brazilians or it's the French.

  • Most recently it's been a lot of Venezuelans because of the unrest there, so you always have

  • foreigners buying in New York. It's a very important part of our market, primarily the condo market.

  • It's one of the reasons that whenever there's been ups and downs in other parts of the U.S. real estate market,

  • New York is usually able to weather it.

  • Yet more than half of the people here have never even been to New York before.

  • Now how many of you guys here are at least familiar with New York?

  • Have you lived there? Anybody?

  • So how will this work?

  • Photos are the best education for Hong Kong people because if people haven't been to New York,

  • they don't know what's where.

  • So giving them photos, they can actually see, “Okay, this is the Stock Exchange,

  • this is the One World Trade Center, Oculus, Battery Park, Brookfield Place."

  • Guests are either invited by one of these firms or they find out through an advertisement,

  • something like this that could come across their Facebook feed.

  • On the United States map you have a total of 50 states, okay?

  • And New York state is over here.

  • The sessions here are done in both English and Chinese.

  • I've lived in both New York and Hong Kong and it's interesting to see how they compare

  • neighborhoods to help people here better understand the New York market.

  • So this is Wall Street. This is what Wall Street looks like.

  • You have the New York Stock Exchange and of course, you come here to do your IPO, Jack Ma is here

  • The event took place shortly after there were reports that Amazon

  • was preparing to announce a new headquarters in New York City.

  • At the time, the news was projected to give a boost to New York's real estate market,

  • and it even became a selling point here at the event.

  • A few months later though, Amazon would pull out of its New York expansion plans.

  • It's important to note, that Hong Kong, while a part of China,

  • operates under its own set of rules and regulations.

  • But Beijing has been cracking down on money leaving China.

  • And mainland Chinese residents are restricted to only investing $50,000 abroad annually.

  • Any more requires special permission from the government.

  • Yet China's economy is cooling.

  • What it's impacting is really the very, very, very top because the Chinese were buying the most expensive

  • apartments, we're talking the $30 million penthouses that were being built along West 57th Street, 432 Park.

  • That's a bit of a challenge now because they're pulling away from the New York market

  • because of the difficulty getting money out of China.

  • We need someone to replace the Chinese, either replace the Chinese

  • or make it easier for them to get their money out.

  • Yet money coming from China is still strong.

  • For six straight years, Chinese have been the top foreign buyers

  • in both units and dollar volume of residential housing.

  • And lately, more and more of the middle class are joining in on the trend.

  • Take the median price of a U.S. home sold to a Chinese buyer.

  • It's gone from just under $530,000 in 2017, to $439,000 the next year.

  • Is it pretty common that after just one event investors are willing to commit?

  • We have events that we did for Vietnam that we just sell out 50 units in one weekend.

  • Asia Bankers Club says a few units were sold during this weekend event,

  • but many potential buyers wanted to visit New York first.

  • The people I speak with here say that education curve is the biggest challenge they face.

  • But it's these sorts of events that hope to fix that, to ultimately convince buyers to

  • a multiple million dollar purchase on the other side of the world.

They save all the best units for us to sell.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it

A2 york chinese event market china hong

Selling upscale New York condos to China | CNBC Reports

  • 3 0
    Summer posted on 2020/12/20
Video vocabulary

Keywords

ultimately

US /ˈʌltəmɪtli/

UK /ˈʌltɪmətli/

  • adverb
  • In the end; finally.
  • Done or considered as the final and most important
  • In the end; finally.
  • At the furthest or most remote point or time.
  • To the greatest extent; extremely.
  • In the end; finally.
  • In the end; finally.
  • At the most basic level; fundamentally.
  • Fundamentally; at the most basic level.
  • At a basic level; remotely.
potential

US /pəˈtɛnʃəl/

UK /pəˈtenʃl/

  • noun
  • someone's or something's ability to develop, achieve, or succeed
  • The possibility of something happening or some quality that somebody/something has.
  • A person who is being considered for a job, position, award, etc.
  • A latent quality or ability that may be developed.
  • adjective
  • Capable of happening or becoming reality
  • Having or showing the capacity to develop into something in the future.
  • Possible of becoming something
  • Possible, able to happen; something that can develop or become a reality.
  • Possible; likely to develop into a particular type of person or thing in the future
  • Possible or likely in the future
  • other
  • The ability to develop into something in the future
  • The capacity to develop into something in the future
  • The amount of energy that something has stored
  • The possibility of something happening or some quality that somebody/something has
  • other
  • The capacity to develop into something in the future
  • The amount of energy that something has stored in it because of its position or condition
  • The possibility of something happening or some quality that somebody/something has
access

US /ˈæksɛs/

UK /'ækses/

  • noun
  • The ability or right to enter, use, or look at something.
  • Way to enter a place, e.g. a station or stadium
  • The means or opportunity to approach or enter a place.
  • A means of approaching or entering a place.
  • The right or opportunity to use or look at something.
  • verb
  • To obtain or retrieve (computer data or a file).
  • (Of a computer) to find and use (data).
  • To be able to use or have permission to use
  • To obtain or retrieve (data or information) from a computer or other device.
  • other
  • The action or way of approaching, entering, or using.
  • The means or opportunity to approach or enter a place.
  • The opportunity or right to use something or to see someone.
  • other
  • To obtain or retrieve (data or information, typically held in a computer).
impact

US /ˈɪmˌpækt/

UK /'ɪmpækt/

  • noun
  • A striking effect or result to hit with force
  • Act or force of one thing hitting something else
  • A marked effect or influence.
  • other
  • To collide forcefully with something.
  • verb
  • To hit or strike someone or something with force
  • other
  • (especially of a tooth) wedged so that it cannot erupt.
  • To have a strong effect on someone or something.
convince

US /kənˈvɪns/

UK /kən'vɪns/

  • verb
  • To persuade someone, or make them feel sure
  • other
  • To persuade someone to do something or believe something.
familiar

US /fəˈmɪljɚ/

UK /fəˈmɪliə(r)/

  • adjective
  • Having a good knowledge of something.
  • Informal and friendly, sometimes to an inappropriate degree.
  • Well-known or easily recognized
  • noun
  • A close friend or associate.
  • (In folklore) a spirit, often in animal form, believed to attend and serve a witch.
permission

US /pɚˈmɪʃən/

UK /pəˈmɪʃn/

  • other
  • Authorization to do something.
  • Consent; agreement to allow something to happen.
  • Formal authorization from an authority.
  • noun
  • In computing, the access rights granted to a user or program.
  • Right to do something as allowed by another
preserve

US /prɪˈzɜ:rv/

UK /prɪˈzɜ:v/

  • noun
  • A type of food made from fruit and sugar, such as jam or marmalade.
  • Sweet fruit spread; jam
  • Protected area of land with plants and animals
  • other
  • To prepare (food) so that it can be kept for a long time.
  • To maintain (something) in its original or existing state.
  • To protect (something) from harm or damage.
  • verb
  • To cook food so it can be kept for long periods
  • To protect something from harm, loss or damage
  • To keep or maintain unchanged or perfect
require

US /rɪˈkwaɪr/

UK /rɪ'kwaɪə(r)/

  • other
  • To order or demand something
  • To demand something
  • To need something; to make something necessary.
  • To need something
  • To order or demand something.
  • verb
  • To demand that someone does something
  • To need to do something, to make it necessary
generate

US /ˈdʒɛnəˌret/

UK /ˈdʒenəreɪt/

  • verb
  • To create or be produced or bring into existence
  • To create electricity, heat, energy and power
  • other
  • To produce or create something.
  • To produce data, especially using a computer.
  • To produce electricity.