From the AFR:
If Asia’s richest man is any guide, the smart money started leaving China’s property market a year ago.
Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing has sold about $3.5 billion worth of property on the mainland and in Hong Kong since August last year, according to the South China Morning Post.
Analysts say the sales, via the investment company Hutchison Whampoa and some real estate trusts which he part-owns, indicate a concerted strategy to reduce Mr Li’s exposure to the Chinese property market. Li himself doesn’t like the sales to be highlighted.
But he is not alone.
Other big property investors, while not necessarily selling out of China, have certainly been diversifying their portfolios away from its troubled real estate sector. And Australia is among the overseas markets being targeted.
Just last week, it was revealed Wang Jianlin, chairman of Wanda Group and the richest man on the mainland, has committed $1.7 billion to Australian real estate including the construction of a $900 million beachfront resort on the Gold Coast.
Fair enough. I’m sure the smart money left Chinese property as described. But, one thing that isn’t so smart is sticking it in Australia, whichis only just entering its post-boom adjustment. Tourism is a good bet in cash flow terms but given the adjustment will involve the devaluation of assets and the currency, unless your real plan is citizenship then you’re punting from China into some very stiff headwinds!
