美国豪宅开发商讨好中国购房者

A new wave of buyers from China is snapping up luxury properties across the U.S., injecting billions of dollars into the country's residential-real-estate market.

来自中国的新一批买家正在美国全国大举购置豪华房产，将数十亿美元注入美国的住宅地产市常

The industry is scrambling to court the new buyers. Some developers of new projects are installing wok kitchens, following feng shui principles and putting lucky numbers on choice units; others are packaging property sales with government programs designed to encourage foreign investment. Real-estate agencies are flying representatives to China, and hiring Mandarin-speaking agents.

美国房地产行业也在纷纷向这些新买家示好。一些新项目的开发商开始安装中式厨房，遵循风水原则，并为精选的套房配上幸运数字；还有一些开发商将房产销售和旨在鼓励海外投资的政府项目结合起来。房地产公司派代表飞往中国，还聘用能说普通话的经纪人。

In Los Angeles, New York and even Miami, buyers mostly from China─and some are from Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea─are radically altering the landscape. Last month, a Chinese couple paid $34.5 million for a Versailles-style mansion on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, Calif. A year earlier, a Hong Kong businessman paid around $28 million for a nearby estate. Over the last six months in New York, several full-floor apartments in a new Manhattan high-rise called One57, each with a price tag of roughly $50 million, have gone into contract with Chinese buyers, according to two people close to the situation.

在洛杉矶、纽约乃至迈阿密，主要来自中国大陆的买家──还有一些来自香港、新加坡和韩国──正彻底改变着房地产市场的格局。一对中国夫妇上月斥资3,450万美元购入加州比佛利山庄(Beverly Hills)日落大道(Sunset Boulevard)上一座凡尔赛风格的豪宅。一年前，一名香港商人斥资约2,800万美元购入附近一处房产。据两名知情人士称，在过去六个月里，纽约曼哈顿一个名为One57的全新高层楼盘有数套整层公寓被中国买家签下，每套售价在5,000万美元左右。

In a nod to Asian buyers, the building put many of its most luxurious full-floor apartments on the 80th through 88th floors─a clever way to appeal to the Chinese belief that eight is the luckiest number. Apartment 88 is under contract to a Chinese buyer for around $50 million.

One57是正在曼哈顿中城开工建设的豪华高层住宅，位于西57街，在卡内基音乐厅(Carnegie Hall)对面，俯瞰中央公园(Central Park)，定于2013年竣工。为迎合亚洲买家，该楼盘将许多最豪华的整层公寓放在80层至88层──这一妙招是为了迎合中国人对幸运数字“8的偏爱。88层的公寓以约5,000万美元的价格被一名中国买家签下。

Fifteen buyers from Asia have bought roughly $1 million apartments at New York's 515 E. 72nd St. in the last six months. In downtown Los Angeles, half of recent buyers for the new Ritz-Carlton Residences, which AEG developed, hail from Asia. Some buy in bulk: Late last year, Fang Yi Liu, a businessman from Shanghai, snapped up 17 apartments for a total of $14 million in the Artech, a modern glass building resembling a cruise ship that overlooks the Intracoastal Waterway near Miami.

过去六个月，有15名亚洲买家购买了位于纽约东72街515号的公寓，这里每套公寓售价在100万美元左右。在洛杉矶市中心，由AEG开发的新丽思卡尔顿公寓(Ritz-Carlton Residences)近期有半数买家来自亚洲。一些买家会批量购买：去年年底，来自上海的商人刘方毅(音)以1,400万美元总价在Artech购入17套公寓。Artech是一幢游轮造型的现代玻璃建筑，俯瞰迈阿密附近的近岸航道。

Interest is surging even in parts of the country China-based buyers weren't traditionally interested in. Richard Zhou, a 41-year-old investment advisor who lives in Shanghai, paid $200,000 for a home in a large golf community in Fort Myers, Fla., last year. He said he bought in the community sight-unseen, trusting his friend who had bought a home there a few months earlier. Mr. Zhou spent two weeks studying the U.S. real-estate market and quickly decided Florida was a good bet because 'it was highly impacted from the financial crisis,' adding that later in his life he plans to retire there. 'Florida is indeed a sunshine state, the weather is really pleasant, and the air quality is very good. Also, the food is safe, too.'

甚至就连过去鲜有中国买家问津的地区也受到了越来越多的追捧。41岁的上海居民、投资顾问理查德·周(Richard Zhou)去年斥资20万美元在佛罗里达州迈尔斯堡(Fort Myers)一个大型高尔夫社区购买了一处住房。他说，他买房时并没有去该社区看房子，他信任几个月前在那儿买房的朋友。周用了两周时间研究美国房地产市场，迅速将佛罗里达州确定为投资对象，因为“佛罗里达州受到了金融危机的严重影响，他还说，晚年他计划到那里去养老。他说，“佛罗里达州确实是‘阳光州’，气候真的很舒适，空气质量非常好。还有，食品也很安全。

Buyers from China and Hong Kong accounted for $9 billion of U.S. home sales in the 12 months ending in March, up 89% from 2010, making them the second-largest group of foreign buyers of homes in the U.S. behind Canadians, according to data released earlier this month by the National Association of Realtors. And many real-estate agents say the those figures are too low, as they track only sales on the multiple-listing service and don't reflect private sales. In addition, the data are based entirely on how real-estate agents classify buyers.

上月美国全国地产经纪商协会(National Association of Realtors)发布的数据显示，在截至3月份的12个月中，来自中国大陆和香港的买家在美国的购房金额达到90亿美元，较2010年增加89%，成为仅次于加拿大人的第二大海外购房群体。许多房地产经纪人称，这些数字太低了，因为它们仅仅追踪了多重上市服务系统的销售额，而没有反映出私人销售额。此外，上述数据依据的完全是房地产经纪人对买家的划分。

I. Dolly Lenz, a luxury-real-estate broker in New York, estimates that half of her clients now hail from China, more than twice the amount two years ago. Pamela Liebman, chief executive of the Corcoran Group, says that the shopping for luxury properties by China-based buyers has accelerated dramatically since the start of 2012 to record-breaking levels.

纽约豪华房地产经纪人多莉·伦兹(I. Dolly Lenz)估计，她的客户现在有半数来自中国，是两年前的两倍以上。Corcoran Group的首席执行长帕米拉·利布曼(Pamela Liebman)称，2012年年初以来，中国买家的豪华房产购买量已剧增至破记录水平。

Foreign-investor interest in the American real-estate market began during the housing crisis, when plummeting property prices turned the U.S. into an attractive target for buyers around the world. The yuan has continued to rise─more than 7% against the dollar since June 2010─as has the number of China's wealthiest individuals. Meanwhile, in an effort to deflate China's housing bubble, the government has placed restrictions on multiple real-estate purchases and recently began to require more equity for mortgage loans.

海外投资者对美国房地产市场产生兴趣是从住房危机期间开始的，当时，房地产价格的直线下跌使美国成为吸引全球买家的目标。人民币持续升值，2010年6月份以来人民币兑美元上涨了逾7%，中国最富有阶层的人数也在不断增加。与此同时，为消除房地产泡沫，中国政府限制人们购买多套住房，并从近期开始提高抵押贷款的资产要求。

'Because it's becoming more restrictive to invest at home and because Europe is so unstable, the U.S. property market is becoming incredibly attractive to the Chinese,' says Patrick O'Neill, whose eponymous company in Hong Kong helps Asian investors buy real estate in the U.S. 'America offers low interest rates, discounted prices and a safe harbor for their money.'

帕特里克·奥尼尔(Patrick O'Neill)说，“由于在中国国内购房面临更多限制，而欧洲非常不稳定，因此美国房地产市场对中国买家来说极具吸引力。奥尼尔在香港开设的奥尼尔公司帮助亚洲投资者在美国置业。他说，“美国提供低利率、低廉的价格，是投资的避风港。

Di Meng, a native of Changchun who lives in Beijing, is currently attending the University of Southern California. The 23-year-old says the volatility of the Chinese government and, consequently, its economy, pushed him to invest in real estate overseas. Not keen to rent student housing, he recently paid around $800,000 for a Ritz-Carlton condo in downtown Los Angeles. 'Compared to China, the United States is relatively stable,' he says. 'China has a purchase limit policy because the Chinese government tried to control and cool down the housing market in China, so if you've already bought a home in China, they do not support you to buy another.'

家住北京的长春人孟迪（音）目前就读于南加州大学(University of Southern California)。23岁的孟迪说，中国政府的多变以及由此导致的经济的动荡不定促使他投资海外房地产市常他不太想租住学生公寓，最近以约80万美元的价格在洛杉矶市中心的丽思卡尔顿公寓购买了一个套房。他说，“与中国相比，美国相对稳定。中国政府试图对房地产市场进行调控并为其降温，并因此出台了限购政策。所以如果你已经买了一套房子，他们就不支持你再买一套。

In the last six months, 10 to 15 pricey units in One57, a glitzy new high-rise being built in midtown Manhattan, went into contract with wealthy Chinese buyers. When completed, the building─which features a Park Hyatt below the condo units─will be New York's tallest residential building. HNA Group, one of China's largest conglomerates that recently bought several commercial properties in New York, signed contracts for two full-floor apartments and two half-floor units in One57, according to a person close to the situation. On West 57th Street across from Carnegie Hall, overlooking Central Park, the building is slated to open in 2013.

过去六个月，富有的中国买家签下了One57 15套昂贵公寓中的10套。One57公寓楼层下是柏悦酒店(Park Hyatt)，建成后将成为纽约最高的住宅楼。据一名知情人士称，中国最大的集团公司之一海航集团(HNA Group)近期在纽约购买了几处商用房产，该公司签下了One57的两套整层公寓和两套半层公寓。

Real-estate agents typically divide buyers into four distinct groups: the super-wealthy buying properties upward of $15 million for personal use; those buying homes for a few million dollars, also for personal use; those purchasing investment properties, usually in the $1 million to $2 million range, to lease out; and those buying in bulk, as a commercial strategy.

房地产经纪通常把买家划分为四个不同的群体：购买售价超过1,500万美元自用房产的超级富豪；购买售价数百万美元的自用住宅的群体；购买投资房产的群体，他们所购买的房产售价通常在100万美元到200万美元之间，用于出租；此外还有批量购买房产，以此作为商业战略的群体。

Steven Loh, a businessman from Singapore who runs a real-estate advisory group called Silkrouteasia Capital Partners, is a bulk buyer. He recently purchased six apartments in Los Angeles's Ritz-Carlton Residences for about $1 million each and is also facilitating a $60 million transaction with several overseas investors to buy more than 50 condos in another Los Angeles development.

新加坡商人史蒂文·罗(Steven Loh)就是一名批量买家，他经营一家名为Silkrouteasia Capital Partners的房地产咨询公司。他最近以每套约100万美元的价格在洛杉矶的丽思卡尔顿公寓购入六套公寓，此外他还在协助几名海外投资者在洛杉矶另一地产开发项目购买逾50套公寓，交易价值达6,000万美元。

Mr. Loh says he wanted to get a jump on the market before property values rise. He isn't worried about Americans─he thinks it will be other Asian-based buyers and businesses who drive up prices, so he is courting them now to invest in the deals he's striking. 'I believe there is a strong desire among Asian high-net-worth individuals to allocate, say, 10% to 25% of their wealth to U.S. assets,' he says. 'Asians have a high propensity and love for acquiring good quality real estate.'

罗说，他想在房地产升值之前把握市场先机。他并不担心美国投资者──他认为推高价格的将是其他亚洲买家和公司，因此他目前在努力说服他们投资与他相同的项目。他说，“我认为亚洲高净值投资者对美国市场有着强烈的投资欲望，比方说，他们会把10%到25%的财富配置在美国资产中，亚洲人对购买高品质房地产有着强烈的偏好和热情。

Some U.S. real-estate agents say that the current property craze reminds them of the real-estate shopping spree by the Japanese in the 1980s, a phenomenon that died with the collapse of Japan's economy. Unlike those days, buyers now tend to be a little more cautious, trying to avoid paying above market value and obsessively calculating rates of return. In addition, while borrowing drove many of the Japanese investments in prior decades, Chinese buyers tend to pay in cash.

一些美国房地产经纪人称，当前的房地产热让他们回想起二十世纪八十年代日本人的购房潮，后来随着日本经济的崩溃，这股热潮也随之消退了。和当年不同的是，如今买家们往往要更谨慎一些，他们努力避免买价超出市场价值，他们还会再三计算回报率。此外，当年日本的投资有很多是依靠贷款，而如今中国买家则往往用现金支付。

Like many investors from Asian countries, buyers from China mostly want new construction. At Lambert Ranch, a gated development so new in Irvine, Calif., that the leaves on the palm trees haven't yet unfurled, buyers are lining up to buy homes asking between $900,000 to $1.5 million, says Mei Zhou, a Mandarin-speaking real-estate agent in Irvine who uses Skype to communicate with her clients in Asia. About 50% of Lambert's buyers so far are foreigners from Asia, say people close to the community. The development's first 42 available homes sold out in five weeks.

和亚洲国家的许多投资者一样，中国买家也大都青睐新房。加州欧文(Irvine)的兰伯特牧场(Lambert Ranch)是一个新建封闭式社区，新到院内的棕榈树叶子都还未展开，但欧文的房地产经纪人周梅（音）称，购房者已在这里排队抢购要价90万美元至150万美元的住宅了。周梅能说普通话，她用Skype与亚洲客户交流。了解该社区情况的人士称，到目前为止，兰伯特牧场有50%左右的买家是来自亚洲的外国人。该社区首批投放市场的42套住房在五周内就卖完了。

Real-estate agents say that while Chinese investors primarily target New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, they are beginning to expand into cities in southern Florida as well as outposts such as Seattle and Las Vegas. That's a sea change from a few years ago, when they were 'fearful' of Florida, says Steven Lawson, chief executive of Windham China, a Shanghai-based company that helps find Chinese buyers property in the U.S. 'There was a false perception in China that Miami is not a supersafe city because a lot of Chinese watch 'CSI: Miami' or 'Miami Vice' on TV.'

房地产经纪人称，中国投资者目前主要投资目标是纽约、洛杉矶和旧金山，但他们也开始将触角伸至南佛罗里达州以及西雅图和拉斯维加斯等地了。总部位于上海的房地产公司威翰地产(Windham China)是一家帮助中国买家在美国寻找房产的公司，该公司首席执行长斯蒂文·劳森(Steven Lawson)说，几年前中国投资者还“惧怕佛罗里达州，而现在情况发生了巨大变化。他说，“中国人对迈阿密存在误解，以为迈阿密这个城市不是特别安全，因为很多中国人会看《犯罪现场调查：迈阿密》(CSI: Miami)或《迈阿密风云》(Miami Vice)等电视剧。

Over the past year, Mr. Lawson says he sold about eight homes in a large golf community in Fort Myers to Chinese buyers. The houses, which span about 2,500 square feet and come fully decorated, cost less than $250,000─a bargain to Beijing and Shanghai residents used to adding another zero to buy a home of that size.

劳森说，在过去一年里他把迈尔斯堡一个大型高尔夫社区的八套住房卖给了中国买家。这些房子面积在2,500平方英尺（约230平方米）左右，精装修，售价不到25万美元──这对北京和上海的居民来说显得很便宜，因为他们在当地购买这么大的房子常常要在这个售价后面再加一个零。

Real-estate agencies and banks are mobilizing to capitalize on the boom. Mr. O'Neill says demand for his company's semiannual investment seminar, which teaches prequalified buyers in China about how real-estate buying works in the U.S. and is held in ballrooms and private clubs, has doubled over the last six months. Banks in China are ramping up their services in the arena, too, flying in U.S. real-estate agents to sit on panels about how to buy property in the U.S. and showcase trophy properties in New York and Los Angeles in PowerPoint presentations.

房地产公司和银行正在采取行动把握购房热带来的机遇。奥尼尔说，他们公司举办的半年度投资研讨会（向通过资格预审的中国买家介绍在美国如何购买房地产，研讨会在舞厅和私人俱乐部举办）需求量在过去六个月中翻了一番。中国的一些银行也在加强这方面的服务，他们邀请美国房地产经纪人飞到中国参加有关如何在美国置业的会议，并用幻灯片展示纽约和洛杉矶的高档房产。

Some developers and real-estate agents are trying to capitalize on government programs that encourage foreigners to invest in the U.S. For example, the EB-5 program makes foreign investors eligible for permanent U.S. residency in exchange for investing at least $500,000 in ventures that create at least 10 jobs in the U.S. Jerry Kaufman, a developer at J. Milton & Associates in Miami, pitches a package to the Chinese where they can invest in an EB-5 approved investment vehicle called the Atlantic American Opportunities Fund in Florida─and then spend more to buy a condo in J. Milton's nearby development, the St. Tropez, in Sunny Isles Beach near Miami. So far, he says, he has signed up 20 Chinese families to invest in the fund and buy units in the condo building, which sell for an average of $700,000.

一些开发商和房地产经纪公司试图利用鼓励外国人赴美投资的政府项目。比方说，按照EB-5项目的规定，海外投资者向企业至少投资50万美元，在美国创造至少10个就业岗位，就有资格获得美国永久居住权。迈阿密J. Milton & Associates房产公司的开发商杰里·考夫曼(Jerry Kaufman)向中国买家推销一个项目，参与该项目的中国买家可以投资佛罗里达州一个名为“大西洋美国机会基金(Atlantic American Opportunities Fund)的EB-5核准投资工具──然后再多花一些钱，在附近的一个J. Milton楼盘购买一套公寓，该楼盘名为圣特罗佩(St. Tropez)，位于迈阿密旁边的阳光岛滩(Sunny Isles Beach)。他说，到目前为止已有20个中国家庭与他签约投资该基金并购买公寓，一套公寓的平均售价是70万美元。

Mr. Kaufman is currently in negotiations to buy a 100-acre plot of land north of Miami in an effort to create Miami's first Chinatown, a free-trade zone with casinos, restaurants, art galleries, shopping and hotels. 'We'd call it New China,' he says. Others are taking quicker routes: In the past few months, Corcoran's Ms. Liebman has started regularly sending four of her agents to China, forged partnerships with three real-estate companies there and hired several Mandarin-speaking agents in the U.S.

考夫曼近期在洽购迈阿密以北一处100英亩的地块，计划在那里兴建迈阿密首座中国城──一个设有赌尝餐馆、画廊、购物中心和酒店的自由贸易区。他说，“我们会把它叫做‘新中华’(New China)。另有一些房地产公司在采取更迅捷的方式：过去几个月，Corcoran的利布曼开始定期派手下四名经纪人去中国，Corcoran与中国三家房地产公司建立了合作关系，并在美国聘请了几名会说普通话的经纪人。

With options like wok kitchens─a separate space with strong ventilation needed for aromatic cooking─or a guest unit for a grandparent, California's Lambert Ranch was designed from the start with the Asia-based buyer in mind. Robert Hidey, Lambert Ranch's architect, who has designed extensively in China, built the community's main roads on a north-south axis and ensured the homes had south-facing windows─both pillars of good feng shui. In addition to creating multigenerational housing options and wok kitchens, the New Home Co., which developed Lambert Ranch, also buried gold coins on the property in accordance with feng shui principles. To avoid having any addresses starting with the number four, unlucky in China, the development starts its addresses at 50.

加州兰伯特牧场的设计从一开始就考虑到了亚洲买家的需求，有中式厨房─一个通风功能强，可满足炒菜所需的独立空间──和供家中长辈居住的客房等选择方案。兰伯特牧场的建筑师罗伯特·海迪(Robert Hidey)在中国有丰富的设计经验，他沿南北轴线修建社区干道，并确保住房都有朝南的窗户──这都是好风水的关键。除了建造可几代同堂的居室和中式厨房外，兰伯特牧场的开发商New Home Co.还按照风水原则在建筑物里面埋入了金币。为避免出现以“4（这个数字在中国不吉利）开头的门牌号，该社区的住家地址都以“50开头。

In Los Angeles, brokers for the Ritz-Carlton Residences have been inviting buyers in China to stay for two nights free at the hotel as part of the Ritz's broader strategy to appeal to Asian buyers, called the 'Pacific Rim Plan.' The visit concludes with a Champagne toast in one of the Ritz residences, although guests must pay their own airfare. 'All we do now is visit China, Hong Kong and Singapore,' says Jim Jacobson, who runs international sales for the Ritz-Carlton Residences. 'We've realized that's where our market lies.' The Ritz-Carlton Residences range from one-bedroom condos costing around $850,000 to larger ones priced at $2.5 million to penthouses, which top out at $9.3 million.

洛杉矶丽思卡尔顿公寓的经纪人邀请中国买家在丽思卡尔顿酒店免费住两晚，这是丽思卡尔顿旨在吸引亚洲买家的“环太平洋计划(Pacific Rim Plan)战略的一部分。访问活动以在丽思卡尔顿一处公寓举行的香槟酒会作结，不过来客必须自付机票。负责丽思卡尔顿公寓国际销售的吉姆·雅各布森(Jim Jacobson)说，“现在我们做的就是访问中国大陆、香港和新加坡。他说，“我们已经认识到，我们的市场在那里。丽思卡尔顿公寓的一卧套房售价85万美元左右，较大的公寓售价250万美元，还有最高售价930万美元的顶层豪宅。

Others are simply turning to Chinese media to market themselves─and their wares. Jing Chen, a broker for Corcoran in New York, writes a column in Mandarin for a popular Chinese website, Sinovision.net. Last year, she wrote a column about Harlem brownstones gaining in value; eight months later, she sold three of them to Chinese buyers, each for somewhere between $1 million and $2 million apiece.

还有一些房地产公司借助中文媒体来营销自己的品牌──以及房产项目。纽约Corcoran的经纪人陈静为热门中文网站美国中文网(Sinovision.net)撰写汉语专栏。去年她在一个专栏中提到哈勒姆(Harlem)的褐石排屋在升值；八个月后，她向中国买家卖出了三幢这样的褐石排屋，每幢售价在100万到200万美元之间。

'The Chinese are like Hollywood celebrities,' she says. 'Once one Chinese person buys a brownstone, they all want one.'

她说，“中国人就像好莱坞名流一样，一旦有一个中国人买了褐石排屋，其他人就全都想买一幢。