Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has vowed to crack down on “rogue states” like China following reports of Chinese investors buying up large tracts of farmland in Florida.
During an interview on Fox News, DeSantis said that businesses with ties to the Chinese Communist Party shouldn’t be allowed to buy up American real estate assets.
“I don’t think they should be able to do it,” the Republican governor told host Laura Ingraham.“I think the problem is these companies have ties to the CCP, and it’s not always apparent on the face of whatever a company is doing — but I think it’s a huge
This comes days after Chinese businesses reportedly spent a record of $6.1 billion on homes mainly in Florida and California, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR.)
Figures provided by the NAR revealed that buyers from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong spent an average of just over $1 million per transaction to purchase existing homes and nearly a third of those deals involved the acquisition of property in California.
Canada came in second, with investors spending $5.5 billion on U.S. residential properties between April of last year and March of this year.
Florida was the state that attracted the heaviest volume of real estate purchases. It was the 14th consecutive year that foreign investors expressed the most interest in Sunshine State properties.
DeSantis said that he plans to sign legislation that would limit the extent to which Chinese-linked entities can invest in Florida pension funds.
“We don’t necessarily have a lot of it, but we want to make sure that we’re cutting ties so that we’re not funding our number-one adversary,” he said.
Meanwhile, nearly six out of 10 Chinese buyers and 69% of Canadian investors made all-cash purchases while a little more than a quarter of Mexican and Brazilian buyers did the same.
“Due to rising interest rates, overall home sales will decline in the US this year,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Foreign buyers, however, are likely to step up purchases, as those making all-cash offers will be immune from changes in interest rates.”
It’s possible that maybe a lot of foreigners just want to live in the land of the free, or this is the Chinese government working hard to breach America’s secrets — given that China is slowly toppling the United States, thanks to the Biden administration’s incompetency on the world stage.
