Chinese Real Estate Los Angeles: Downtown Condo Market Cools as Foreign and Domestic Investors Pull Back

China-funded development of super luxury Metropolis condo highrise with Indigo hotel

REAL ESTATE NEWS

The LA Loft Blog recently reported that Chinese companies are pulling out of Downtown Los Angeles as real estate developer Greenland decides not to complete the last building in the Metropolis condo complex. As other expensive projects are shelved amid construction non-payment lawsuits, mainland China cannot hide its economic woes. OceanWide Plaza megaproject sits uncompleted while financially strapped Mainland China developer quietly seeks a buy-out.

Bloomberg reported recently that Los Angeles condo sales have cooled as Chinese capital stays at home. The #realestate market in downtown Los Angeles is taking a hit as #chinese cash dries up. Condo sales plunged 31% in the third quarter from a year earlier. Chinese and other foreign buyers had made more than 25% of the purchases in downtown Los Angeles in recent years, but tightened restrictions on capital flowing out of China have recently hampered the market. As the trade war between the U.S. and China approaches its second anniversary, Beijing is making it tougher to shift money abroad, imposing capital controls to help stabilize its currency. That’s weighed on the real estate market in cities including #losangeles, New York City, San Francisco and Vancouver.

California Condos Cooling

Bloomberg reports confirm earlier Loft Blog articles on Downtown L.A. condo prices having fallen from a peak in early 2018. Restaurants, shopping, entertainment and transportation infrastructure has attracted nearly 50,000 new residents since 2000. Tens of thousands of new homes have been built, while thousands of new apartment and condos are still under construction. This includes thousands of new luxury high-rise units. These expensive upscale condos are suffering the most as mainland China is hit hard by communist capital controls, tariff battles and economic uncertainty. Investors and other prospective home buyers don’t like the value of today’s relatively high Downtown condo prices.

China’s Fake Economy

The South China Morning Post reported that China is proving to be mired in significant inaccurate financial reporting. China’s economic census has uncovered bunches of fake data. As China’s cash has dried, corporate has borrowing soared. Local Chinese officials of Guanghan and other areas have been found to have gone to extraordinary lengths to manipulate raw data to obscure the real financial health of the economy. They reported growth of 9% while the real growth was likely closer to 0%.

American’s and other financial connections have access to some of the true data, which gets easier to see as the financial tide goes down to reveal the naked truth of financial struggles.

CNBC reports that China’s corporate borrowing has shot up while cash flows deteriorate. China’s cash flows have deteriorated quickly, and new orders continue to fall. Shadow banking is making a resurgence as the CPC Communist Party of China attempts new crackdowns on bankers. China’s cash flows have rapidly deteriorated recently as fourth quarter 2019 late payables and deliverables skyrocketed to the worst levels ever recorded. China’s woes are likely to worsen before the get better because new orders continue to fall. Corporate borrowing has risen to unprecedented rates as business loan applications in China shot to an all-time high, with more than 30% of manufacturing, retail, services and real estate developers needing to borrow money.

China’s communist dictator always has plenty of lowly individuals to pin the blame on. Several bankers have been sentenced to death recently.

Trade War Affecting China, Reviving Trend of Shadow Banking

Borrowing rose in every sector this quarter. China saw overall export orders fall in the second half of 2019, as American tariffs on Chinese goods took effect. With the U.S. and China entering a trade truce this December, the President Trump’s Phase One China deal is expected to help reduce China’s economic freefall.

Mainland stocks tumble as China cut tariffs on over 850 products

CNBC reports that mainland Chinese stocks have been tumbling. The Shanghai Composite is down more than 10% since February 2018, and down more than 25% from its peak in May 2015. China just announced a few days ago that it will lower import tariffs on over 850 products as part of the Phase One trade deal talks. The trade war armistice may be too little too late for China. The communist-backed semiconductor fund has announced plans to reduce holdings in some tech firms, according to a Reuters report. Tech stocks, then broader stocks have just dropped.

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Arson fire / flood inconveniences super luxury Metropolis residents, as developer runs dry

Copyright © This free information provided courtesy L.A. Loft Blog and LAcondoInfo.com with information provided by Corey Chambers, Realty Source Inc, BRE#01889449 We are not associated with the homeowner’s association or developer. For more information, contact (213) 880-9910 or visit LAcondoInfo.com Licensed in California. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Properties subject to prior sale or rental. This is not a solicitation if buyer or seller is already under contract with another broker.

New Homes Downtown Los Angeles – Metropolis and OceanWide Plaza in Oceans of Trouble?

Corey Chambers SoCal Home Real Estate Newsletter August 2019

READ IT FREE (pdf)

TODAY’S NEWS  —  Construction delays in Los Angeles are common and expected, but the delays are usually only days or weeks at a time, often stemming from the City of Los Angeles big bureaucracy and red tape. This delay is different.  For these two projects, China’s slide into money woes may lead to months, perhaps years of sluggish progress.  #oceanwide

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In an earlier L.A. Loft Blog post, we reported on the delays of the mammoth OceanWide Plaza condominium / hotel / shopping center project that appear to me more serious, and likely rooted in China’s overall economic downturn and resulting monetary problems for associated developers and builders.

Another new luxury tower is also affected: Further along in construction (with three of the four buildings already completed), the super-luxury Metropolis condo complex is also part of the same or similar lawsuit.  The U.S. economy is part of the problem.  Recently, the Metropolis developer has been holding the line, even reversing its planned price hikes, due to the cooling real estate market of Los Angeles.  #metropolis #construction #delay #lawsuit

Los Angeles real estate news websites TheRealDeal.com and ConstructionDive.com report that Webcor sues Greenland for millions in alleged unpaid fees.  In the suit, San Francisco-based Webcor says China-controlled company Greenland is in breach of contract for $9.8 million.

Major construction firm Webcor filed its claim in the form of a mechanic’s lien.  If Webcor is successful, then OceanWide will not be able to complete and sell it’s units without Webcor getting paid first. Check out Vernon Martin’s article with more details about OceanWide Plaza’s troubles:

Financial Trouble at Oceanwide Plaza and the Effect of Chinese Capital Controls on Certain North American Real Estate Markets

For today’s newhomes buyers, the good news is that there’s no need to take chances. Those who are considering purchasing one of these newer high-rise condos may reduce the risk by taking advantage of a Satisfaction Guarantee like the “Love Your Home” guarantee to ensure that they will be happy with their investment for years to come.  Details available at www.LoveYourHomeGuarantee.com.

Get a free list of luxury tower condos and other new homes under construction in Downtown Los Angeles.  Fill out the online form:

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Copyright © This free information provided courtesy L.A. Loft Blog and LAcondoInfo.com with information provided by Corey Chambers, Realty Source Inc, BRE#01889449 We are not associated with the homeowner’s association or developer. For more information, contact (213) 880-9910 or visit LAcondoInfo.com  Licensed in California. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Properties subject to prior sale or rental. This is not a solicitation if buyer or seller is already under contract with another broker.

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