Chinese investors are gaining notice for their interest in South Florida, putting a squeeze on Canadian buyers in search of deals, according to recent reports from Florida real estate agents and researchers. While Chinese investors have long flocked to booming areas such as Manhattan, Bordeaux, London and Australia’s Gold Coast, the South Florida market has proved to be a good investment over and over, resulting in investors buying units sight unseen.

According to John Tuccillo of the trade association Florida Realtors, though Asian buyers are still minor players in the Florida market, they are proving stiff enough competition to the Canadians.

Interest has been highest among Chinese buyers in particular.

According to a recent story from The Star:

“Some of our clients got beat out recently because they were waiting to book flights. Some Chinese investors bought up 35 (townhouse-condo) units without even flying in first,” says Wayne Levy of Toronto-based Florida Home Finders.

“They looked at a picture. They wrote cheques. That’s what’s happening now.”

Asian interest in Florida has “really picked up steam in the last year,” says Levy, whose company is still seeing strong demand from Canadian buyers, but finding it increasingly challenging to find properties under $150,000 as the beleaguered U.S. housing market slowly recovers and the inventory of distressed homes drops.

“They’re seeing the U.S. as a safe haven to put their money,” says Montreal-born realtor Shant Epremian, co-founder of Boca Raton-based Pink Palm Properties, who’s just returned from two weeks in Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore.

“I am slowly starting to tap into that market because there is a tremendous amount of money there. Buyers are looking for good opportunities and see that Florida is still on sale.”

Just as Chinese buyers have replaced Japanese as the dominant foreign investors on the Gold Coast, Florid will likely see the rise of Chinese investors as they beat out South American (predominately Brazilian) and Canadian buyers. Beyond the low prices of the South Florida market, interest in Florida properties is being driven by tourism and education.

Chinese investors view South Florida development, such as the EB-5 projects Via Mizner, in Boca Raton; Water Pointe, Harbourside Place and ESI Jupiter Technology Park, all of Jupiter, Florida; as solid investments based on technology, tourism and regional economic development. On top of the community-driven and economy-boosting projects, the area’s school systems offer incentive to bring families over to the United States, as opportunity is around every corner.根据佛罗里达地产机构以及研究人员的最新报告，越来越多的中国投资者关注南佛罗里达地产市场，这将挤压原加拿大买家。早些时候，来自中国的买家以浩浩荡荡的队伍进军纽约曼哈顿、伦敦、波尔多以及澳大利亚的黄金海岸地产市场。现在，越多越多的人正关注南佛罗里达，该地区以被证明为投资的最佳选择。

佛罗里达房地产经纪人贸易协会John Tuccillo表示，尽管目前亚洲买家在佛罗里达地产交易市场上仍仅占少数比例，但他们将给加拿大买家带来强大竞争压力。

中国买家的利息一直最高。

以下是来自《The Star》的最新报道：

来自多伦多的一家专门负责佛罗里达地产销售的中介Wayne Levy表示：“我们的客户最近受到重创。当他们还在犹豫等待订机票来看房的时候，中国买家已经一口气买下了35套联排别墅公寓，在这之前都没实际去看一下。”

“他们只是了解了信息，看了房子照片，然后就安排付款了。这就是现在的实际情况。”Levy表示，从去年开始，亚洲买家就开始“摩拳擦掌”了。其公司目前来自加拿大的买家需求仍强劲，但面临越来越大的压力。随着该地区地产市场的复苏以及库存的减少，再找到15万美金的房子越来越难。

在加拿大蒙特利尔出生，是美国佛罗里达州博卡拉顿Pink Palm Properties地产中介公司的创立者。他两周前刚从香港、北京以及新加坡回来，表示：“亚洲人看好美国，觉得这里是资产安放的最佳地方。”

“我现在也是慢慢进入中国买家市场。那儿资金充足。买家也都在纷纷寻找投资机遇，而佛罗里达目前性价比好，颇具优势。”

正如中国买家取代日本买家，以浩荡队伍在澳大利亚黄金海岸购买房产，佛罗里达有可能成为中国投资者的下一个选择地点。之前该区域外国买家主要为南美巴西人和加拿大人。南佛罗里达除了颇具优势的地产价格外，当地旅游特色以及教育优势也是重要推动因素。

中国投资者关注南佛罗里达地区的发展。通过EB-5项目，如博卡拉顿的Via Mizner高尔夫度假村项目、Water Pointe亲水高尔夫别墅项目、朱庇特市政中心项目以及ESI科技园等项目了解了更多。凭借佛罗里达高科技产业、旅游业以及当地经济的发展，目前该地已成为众多国际买家的考虑首选。此外，当地丰富深厚的教育资源也给投资者家庭带来更多优势。