Chinese international property portal Juwai.com and online real estate marketplace Auction.com have signed a partnership to bring American commercial real estate (CRE) auctions and listings to investors from China.
According to the agreement, Juwai.com will soon feature Auction.com's U.S. real estate listings translated into Chinese. These listings will immediately be accessible to the 2.6 million Chinese-speaking Juwai.com users – both in mainland China and around the world.
Further, Juwai.com says it will utilize its team of journalists to develop content that educates Chinese consumers about the real estate auction process.
The companies say the partnership will initially focus on CRE properties – such as multifamily units, hotels, retail locations and office buildings – but given Chinese buyers' high level of interest in U.S. residential properties, residential homes are likely to be added in due time.
‘Over $48 billion in foreign capital was invested in U.S. commercial real estate in 2014, and China was second only to Canada in the amount of CRE investment,’ says Jeffrey Frieden, CEO and co-founder of Auction.com.
‘Our strategy has always been to leverage the global reach of the Internet to deliver the largest number of prospective buyers for our sellers. So we're excited to partner with Juwai.com – which has the largest audience of Chinese international property buyers and will help us effectively target Chinese-speaking investors in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and even in the U.S.,’ he says.
Simon Henry, co-CEO of Juwai.com, also feels this partnership will be mutually beneficial.
‘Auction.com will help us give Chinese buyers more of what they are looking for: exclusive commercial listings that are accessible to them online – in China and in their own language,’ Henry says.
‘Chinese buyers don't want to be disadvantaged because of their language or physical distance from the U.S. We help educate cross-border buyers by providing access and information on global real estate buying practices.’
