How China’s Falling Stock Market Might Impact U.S. Housing Market
While stock markets in the U.S. have been more than a little volatile the past month or so, the dip has been nothing compared to China. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index is down more than 21 percent so far this year and more than 38 percent from its 52-week high. So what impact will troubles in the world’s second largest economy have on the U.S. housing market? A recent article in Realtor.com, the magazine of the National Association of REALTORS®, said the shaky Chinese market may be a double-edged sword for real estate here at home. On one hand, Chinese buyers have been one of the major drivers of the Bay Area real estate market, and tough economic times could mean less competition from those offshore investors, “possibly cooling some markets and making a wee bit of room in inventory at least in the luxury market,” the article notes. But at the same time, there continues to be a very strong desire by the Chinese to invest in the U.S., which is still seen as somewhat of a “safe h...