18 pct of foreign home buyers in US are Chinese

Chinese buyers, closely behind Canadian buyers, spent $12.3 billion on US real estate over the 12 months ending March 31, according to statistics from the National Association of Realtors.

During the past year, Chinese accounted for 18% of the $68.2 billion that foreigners spent on homes in the US. The median price of homes purchased by Chinese was $425,000, higher than that of other foreign buyers, which was $276,000.

Almost 70% of the Chinese purchase was made in cash. Chinese homebuyers are flooding the US housing market with large amounts of cash, CNN Money reports.

Total international sales of US housing over the past year declined from the previous year, by about $14 billion.

"Foreign buyers are experiencing hurdles not only abroad, but also here in the US when it comes to purchasing property," said NAR President Gary Thomas in a report.

Despite the decline, America is still regarded by Chinese buyers as a good place for investment and children's education.

"The uptick in sales to Chinese buyers started several years ago, but it has increased dramatically lately," Sally Forster Jones, an agent at Coldwell Banker International, told CNN Money.

According to NAR, the most popular destination to buy houses in America for Chinese buyers is California, where half of the international sales are made by Chinese.

Many Chinese are buying homes through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which is a quick way to get a green card.

According to the statistics from the US government, almost 80 percent of EB-5 visas went to Chinese nationals in 2012.