Vanke teams up with Keppel

China Vanke Co, the country's largest property developer by market value, has teamed up with a Singaporean company to invest in a condominium project in the island country.

Experts noted Wednesday that growing demand from Chinese investors is the major reason behind developers' frequent overseas projects.

The deal, worth S$135.5 million ($108.77 million), will allow China Vanke to have a 30 percent stake in the 726-unit condominium project in the Tanah Merah district on Singapore's eastern coast, according to a stock exchange statement Tuesday by Singapore-based Keppel Land, which owns the rest of the stake.

"China Vanke is going after Chinese demand by investing in its recent overseas projects," Liu Yuan, senior research manager with Shanghai-based Centaline China Property Research, told the Global Times.

Chinese investors have shown increasing interest in overseas properties, as domestic housing policies have curbed certain types of purchases. Some are buying for investment, while others seek immigration opportunities.

The spring real estate fair in Beijing last week featured over 200 overseas projects from around 10 countries, the highest number since 2008.

China Vanke has recently made several moves to enhance its overseas presence. In February, the company reached an agreement with US developer Tishman Speyer to jointly develop a condominium project in San Francisco. And 200 units of the US project have been pre-sold to mainland investors, media reports said.

Wang Shi, chairman of China Vanke, told media earlier this month that the time is right to invest in the US real estate sector, as the US economy is gradually climbing.

He also said the firm is eyeing the market in Canada while continuing to expand in the US.

Other major real estate companies are also speeding up exploration of the overseas market. Guangdong-based developer Country Garden started to promote its Malaysia project to mainlanders in February.

However, Hui Jianqiang, head of research at Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institute, noted that most Chinese developers should still focus on the domestic market at present, as "they may be big in size, but they lack management expertise compared with their overseas counterparts."

Analysts noted that Chinese investors should also be wary of risks. Cheap property in Detroit, US, recently caught the attention of Chinese investors, with media reporting that some houses are priced as low as $10.

"The overseas market is more mature and prices may not grow as fast (as in China) ... and prices are not as low as they seem when tax and other maintenance fees are included," said Liu.