Chinese Buyers Flocking to Queens

Chinese money has been pouring into New York real estate for years, but for a while the impact was felt primarily at the high end of the Manhattan market. Now, according to a story in today’s New York Times, newly-minted members of the Chinese middle class are starting to diversify their more modest wealth by purchasing condos in Queens and the neighborhood of Flushing in particular. It should come as no surprise that Flushing is ground-zero for this trend: It’s been a largely Asian neighborhood for years and it’s been undergoing something of a building boom more recently. Take the Sky View Parc, the 448-unit mixed use complex at the intersection of College Point Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue where one-bedrooms start at around half a million dollars. To date, 410 condos have sold to date, and of those 135–or about a third–have sold to buyers from China. Many of these apartments, according to the developer, will be held as investments and rented out. The article also notes that the Flushing market has gotten so intense that Chinese nationals are looking at other neighborhoods like Kew Gardens too.