• Investorist finds that educated Chinese buyers are doing their homework – at home and abroad
• Two-tier pricing seen as representative of ‘cowboy’ selling agents
• Safety of investment trumps yields for majority of Asian investors

Off the back of their latest China Connection event, Investorist, the world’s leading B2B off plan property platform, is ready to dispel the urban myth that Asian buyers will pay more for your property.

Jon Ellis, Founder and CEO of Investorist, explains,

“Chinese buyers are extremely educated when it comes to buying property in overseas markets. Many choose to invest in the same property as their family, friends or colleagues and they seek local advisors in the country that they intend to buy in. Prior to the purchase, Chinese buyers will verify what they are being told by their agent in China and may well also arrange to film inside the project showroom simply by using their mobile phone, a practice which is common for apartment sales in several countries.”

This verification of details includes serious attention to the price of the development. If there’s a discrepancy between the price given by the Chinese agent and the price from the local advisor in the country where the development is based, the buyers will want to know why. According to Investorist’s findings, this can be make or break the deal. Developers seeking to be truly successful in Asia need to price their properties fairly for the market. Investorist’s Jon Ellis continues,

“Two-tier pricing was often introduced as a result of aggregators and middlemen. However, such an approach has become representative of ‘cowboy’ selling agents and as a result has largely disappeared from the industry now. Developers looking to roll out two-tier pricing for new projects should think very carefully about how this will be perceived by Asian buyers.”

For developers and selling agents looking for repeat buyers – which most should be, given how much easier it is to sell to a repeat buyer than a new contact – fair and transparent pricing makes even more sense. If buyers are put off by two-tier pricing, developers who insist on sticking with it may well find themselves with unsold completed apartments on their hands, while those who’ve priced fairly manage to sell everything off-plan.

At the recent China 2016 International Property Outlook, Investorist reported that the desire for  safe investment locations would be the main driver of Chinese investment in overseas property in 2017. The report also found that security and longer-term capital appreciation were considered more important than investment yield. Developers’ approach to pricing structure is one way in which the safety of the investment can be judged.

Investorist’s Jon Ellis concludes,

“We’re dealing with a market of mature buyers in China now and developers need to respect their desire for safety and for clarity. Chinese investment in overseas property is showing no signs of slowing down and the developers who are appropriately respectful of Asian buyers can look forward to achieving healthy sales in 2017.”

For more information about global off-plan property, contact Investorist by visiting www.investorist.co.uk or calling the team on +44 (0)203 761 7380.

• Brisbane almost twice as expensive as Birmingham; Brooklyn over 5 times pricier (Investorist)
• Birmingham International Airport reports 19 months of record-breaking growth
• Off-plan Birmingham investment combines value for money with strong market conditions (Investorist)

Birmingham has already achieved international renown as the UK’s second city, but now new data from revolutionary trading platform Investorist has revealed that “Brum” is beating other second cities around the world when it comes to off-plan property investment.

There’s no doubting Birmingham’s popularity as a travel destination. Birmingham International Airport has recorded 19 consecutive months of record-breaking growth, with 1,207,796 passengers travelling through the airport in September 2016 alone, up by 15.8% on the previous September. Long-haul growth rates are ahead of short-haul, at 21.5% and 15.1% year-on-year respectively.

But its not just visitors Birmingham is attracting. The city is hugely popular with investors, as Jon Ellis, Founder and CEO of Investorist, comments,

“Birmingham offers an excellent investment landscape, from high end retail space to some outstanding residential property developments. It’s a city that appeals to investors on many levels and the post-Brexit drop in the sterling’s value has made it even more attractive to those who have other investment currencies to spend – particularly dollars or currencies pegged to the dollar.”

Investorist’s latest data brings Birmingham’s excellent value for money into sharp focus by comparing it with two other world-class second tier urban centres: Brisbane and Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, the best value apartment listed came in at £10,793 per square metre, making it the most expensive of the three centres. Brisbane was next, at £3,976 per square metre, while Birmingham offered the best value for money at just £3,068 per square metre.

• Brooklyn apartment      £723,189
• Brisbane apartment £246,543
• Birmingham apartment £135,000

The figures compared off-plan one-bedroom/one bathroom apartments in the three centres. The cheapest one-bed/one bath apartment listing on the Investorist site in each location was considered.

Not only was the Birmingham property the best value of the three, it was also significantly closer – only 0.8km from the central business district and the employment opportunities that the UK’s second city has to offer. The Brisbane apartment was 3km from the CBD, while the Brooklyn unit was 2.6 km away.

Investorist’s Jon Ellis continues,

“Quite simply, investors can get more for their money by looking at off-plan buy-to-let homes in the UK right now than they can in many destinations around the world.

“Demand for good quality rental properties in the UK is underpinned by a range of factors that should see it weather the Brexit fallout, such as the increasing size of the private rental sector and the significant deposit requirement faced by first time buyers.

“Both the underlying market conditions and the value that UK second cities offer should stand the sector in good stead as far as off-plan residential investment over coming years is concerned.”

For more information about global off-plan property, contact Investorist by visiting www.investorist.co.uk or calling the team on +44 (0)203 761 7380.

“Only the most forward-thinking and nimble developers are changing and evolving their strategy in light of Brexit to become more innovative in their search for buyers, and investing accordingly.”

That is the sentiment of property marketing expert and proptech entrepreneur, Jon Ellis, Founder of Investorist, the world’s largest off plan B2B property marketplace.

Selling successfully in a post Brexit era should be at the forefront of every UK developer’s mind as 2017 approaches and Article 50 is triggered but as Jon observes, too many operators, especially within the UK apartment sector appear to be continuing with the ‘same old, same old’ selling strategies they were using pre Brexit, and as a result, properties are taking much longer to sell as buyers consider their options and their investments much more carefully.

Jon comments, “The smartest developers are looking globally in light of Brexit rather than waiting for buyers to show up on the doorstep.”

Last month’s China Connection event, organized by Investorist Live, is the perfect example of how smart developers are taking proactive steps to selling. Senior representatives from more than 50 agencies from across China attended, with in excess of US$1b of property on offer from six international developers. Investorist set up one-on-one meetings between the selling agents and developers, carefully matching each project with the most relevant parties.

The event’s success and the fact that many missed out on attending, has led to the next Investorist Live: China Connection event being scheduled for 31^st October – 4^th November 2016 in the rapidly expanding tech hub of Shenzhen and then Shanghai.

Ellis comments, “Our China Connection events have been likened to speed dating for property developers and hand-picked agents. These events have resulted in some very positive new partnerships which will ultimately deliver wealthy Chinese and South East Asian buyers.”

With ever increasing numbers of UK developers keen to develop global sales channels and Asian selling agents urgently seeking UK stock, not least due to the fall of sterling, Investorist Live: China Connection is the ideal event at which information can be shared and deals done.  NOTE – DEVELOPERS PAY TO ATTEND

For more information on Investorist Live: China Connection or details of how to attend please contact Andy Grimley, Business Development Manager on andy.grimley@investorist.com or call +44 203 761 7383.

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Note to Editors

Investorist is the world’s largest marketplace for the off plan property industry, a B2B sales and business development platform promoting and distributing properties around the globe. Our platform is used daily by leading property developers, brokers, real estate businesses, financial advisors and migration agents.

In just three years Investorist has grown dramatically; now with 10 offices in the UK, US, China, SE Asia and Australia, US$45 billion in listed property in 25 countries, 5,500 plus members and more than 500 projects. These include globally significant projects valued in excess of US$1 billion in London (Battersea Park), Manchester (Media City), New York (Hudson Yards), Miami and Queensland, Australia.

Investorist.com

• Golden Week ‘most exciting time of the year’ for working with Chinese property buyers (Investorist)
• Chinese passenger numbers during 2015 Golden Week rose by a record 10% (Chinese state media)
• Manchester and London earmarked as top spots for Chinese Golden Week buyers (Investorist)

China’s National Day Golden Week, a week-long national holiday that starts on 1 October, is known for being the most active week of the year when it comes to buying and selling property.

Held to celebrate the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the National Day Golden Week holiday sees many citizens taking the opportunity to travel around China: in 2015, according to Chinese state media, 100 million people crowded onto the train network over the course of National Day Golden Week, an increase of 10% over the previous year.

Golden Week is also an opportunity to travel overseas and many wealthy Chinese combine business and pleasure by taking a holiday that enables them to investigate overseas’ property markets first hand.

Jon Ellis, Founder and CEO of revolutionary trading platform Investorist, comments,

“The second Golden Week of the year, held at the start of October, is the ideal time for Chinese investors to visit the countries they plan to purchase properties in. It’s an incredibly busy time for all those with Chinese buyers – demand rises sharply and companies need to have plans in place to respond to a surge of enquiries over the course of Golden Week and the weeks that follow.

“It’s the most exciting time of the year for working with Chinese property buyers – large numbers of deals are set up and deals done in this single week. In fact our statistics show a 46% increase in enquiry rates for properties listed on the Investorist site in the lead up to Golden Week”

Shopping for everything from shoes to chalets has become a traditional part of the holiday festivities and travelling overseas in pursuit of designer bargains is becoming increasingly common. Chinese spending in Oxfordshire, for example, rose from £8 million to £20 million in the decade to 2015, according to Visit Britain, thanks largely to the huge popularity of Bicester Village as a retail destination.

UK property stock is also on many Chinese visitors’ shopping lists at this time of year. According to figures from Visit Britain, Chinese visitors to the UK have risen from 89,187 in 2009 to 269,631 in 2015. Of those who visited in 2015, 178,770 (66%) did so during the latter half of the year.

Investorist’s Jon Ellis observes,

“This time of year is definitely when we see increasing numbers of Chinese investors investigating the UK’s property sector for themselves. Appetite for real estate is very seasonal when it comes to Chinese buyers and National Day Golden Week brings a serious boom each year, both from investors online in China and those here in the UK in person.”

Investorist is well prepared for the annual surge. The company’s recent China Connection event enabled developers a real-time dialogue with Chinese agents, just ahead of Golden Week, to discover the most sought-after areas of the UK right now. Manchester took the top spot, with London coming a close second, allowing the Investorist team to be fully prepared for the October increase in enquiries for these locations.

For more information, contact Investorist by visiting www.investorist.co.uk or calling the team on +44 (0)203 761 7380.

• China ‘seeking property investment for both now and future years’
• Enquiries up by 100% and more for agents selling UK property in China
• USA tops the list of preferred locations for property investment

Revolutionary property trading platform Investorist has reported that China remains the most promising source of funds for overseas developers, following its China Connection event held over 5 to 9 September 2016.

Spanning Beijing and Shanghai, the event saw industry experts come together to consider the current – and likely future – state of the international property investment market.

Senior representatives from more than 50 agencies from across China attended, with in excess of US$1b of property on offer from six international developers. Investorist set up one-on-one meetings between the selling agents and developers, carefully matching each project with the most relevant parties.

Jon Ellis, Founder and CEO of Investorist, comments,

“The success of the China Connection event has been very gratifying and with many attendees already committing to our next show, it has exceeded our already high expectations. They say in China that ‘September is Gold and October is Silver’ when it comes to selling property, and Golden Week (1-7 October 2016) is the peak week of the year for selling property. All Chinese take off the whole week to take advantage of the national holiday, giving people time to meet with their local agents and advisors, research international purchases, discuss their plans with their families and sign contracts.

“Ahead of Golden Week, we were delighted to discover the most favoured locations of Chinese selling agents. The USA tops the list, while the UK and Australia are also important markets. Agents are seeking property investment for both now and future years – they are committing long-term to their preferred locations and China is clearly the most promising source of funds for overseas developers right now.”

In the US, it is California, New York, Florida and Texas that are attracting the most attention, according to the property developers and master agents / lead brokers who attended the Investorist event.

In the UK, London and Manchester hold sway, with some agents reporting enquiries up by more than 100% since the Brexit vote, thanks to the devaluation of the pound. However buyers are more cautious, which is translating into longer conversion times – the sales themselves are still going ahead. Property priced between £100,000 and £300,000 for fixed income real estate projects were the most popular investment choice.

In Australia, townhouses and single-family dwellings in leading cities were found to be the most sought after properties. Chinese investment in Australian property was impacted significantly when the policies of the major Australian banks came into effect in May 2016, with lending approvals cut to investors with pure overseas income, where the source of funds was not clearly identified. The result has been a notable drop in the pace of Chinese investment in Australian real estate.

However, most agents are optimistic about the future and are still keen to source Australian properties. Many are looking to expand the types of investment product they offer to clients in order to prepare for 2017, when they expect the Australian investment loan market to be back on track again.

Looking ahead, it seems proptech is firmly on the agenda for Chinese agents dealing in global real estate. Investorist’s clients are already users of a sophisticated B2B platform with proprietary property search, marketing, sales and stock management tools, and with the Chinese renowned early adopters of new technology, proptech is no exception.

Investorist is rapidly earning a reputation as the most valuable and effective company in China for facilitating B2B cross border property transactions. Investorist is already preparing for its next show in late October 2016. Two of those who attended the September China Connection have already booked to attend the October show; while one developer has since slashed his media spend in order to focus more on B2B sales, thanks to the success experienced through Investorist’s China Connection.

For more information, contact Investorist by visiting www.investorist.co.uk or call the team on +44 (0)203 761 7380.

• H1 2016 Chinese overseas property investment 2x that of H1 2015 (CBRE)
• Political and economic factors look set to support a sustained trend (Investorist)
• Investorist Live: China Connection exclusive event 5-8 September 2016

Brexit is proving no obstacle to Chinese investors, who remain hungry for a slice of the UK’s property sector. In fact, the drop in sterling’s value has created an excellent opportunity for overseas investors in the UK.

Jon Ellis, Founder and CEO for revolutionary trading platform Investorist, comments,

“The fall in sterling’s value after the Brexit vote led to many investors rushing to pick up property in the UK, which had suddenly become much more affordable. What we’re seeing now is the continuation of that trend, but with purchases by more risk-averse investors. The continuing reduction of the pound’s value has given many investors time to consider the Brexit implications from all angles and most have decided that the UK is still a strong, viable option.”

The weeks since the referendum have been busy ones. Affinity Sunny Way, the overseas investment arm of Affinity Global Real Estate, has observed a 10% increase in Chinese people travelling, with managing director David Wei commenting that,

“…lots of them come to buy property. A few companies dealing with [property investment] from China in the UK have become really busy, and they’ve had to hire more people.”

Firms such as Investorist have also noticed a significant rise in interest in the weeks since the Brexit vote. The rise comes after what has already been a significant period for Chinese interest in UK property – Chinese buyers accounted for 23% of all new residential property purchases in London over the past 18 months, according to Savills.

The UK is not alone however in experiencing a huge Chinese appetite for its properties. According to CBRE, Chinese investment in overseas real estate totalled $16.1 billion in H1 2016, more than double the amount invested in H1 2015. The US was the firm favourite in terms of total investment, while in terms of properties it was hotels and offices that topped the tables.

Manson Zhao, Investorist’s General Manager in China comments,

“China’s economic slowdown has had a big impact in terms of pushing investors to look overseas for their property investments. Countries like the US and UK offer the attraction of a stable environment – even despite Brexit– and higher returns than domestic investments. It’s a win-win for Chinese property investors and the political and economic factors look well positioned to sustain the trend for quite some time.”

Investorist is responding to the much-increased level of demand with the latest in its series of hugely successful Investorist Live events – China Connection. Commencing on 5 September 2016 in Beijing, the exclusive event will move to Shanghai on 8 September.

China Connection will connect ten leading global property developers with handpicked senior level executives from real estate selling agencies across China. Hundreds of stock-hungry agents are expected to attend in order to snap up the hottest property stock from the UK, USA, Europe and Australia for their clients.

With global forces continuing to draw money out of China for property investment around the world, China Connection’s timing couldn’t be better. It looks like 2016 will be a good year indeed for overseas nations looking to benefit from the Yuan.

For more information, contact Investorist by visiting www.investorist.co.uk or calling the team on +44 (0)203 761 7380.