Residency offers lure Chinese to buy in Europe  

北京两居室价格够买塞浦路斯别墅及永居权

欧洲小国购房送居留，最低门槛是希腊，购买住宅不低于25万欧元；塞浦路斯不低于30万欧元；葡萄牙和西班牙都把门槛设在50万欧元……欧洲购房拿居留的门槛在205万~410万元人民币，北上广随便一套市中心两房单位都足以在欧洲购买一栋不错的别墅且可以全家获得居留权。[查看全文]

(ECNS) – A number of relatively small European countries offer a chance to stay to foreigners who buy real estate, luring more Chinese to invest, the Guangzhou Daily reported.

The threshold for real estate investments and permanent residency applications is 250,000 euros in Greece, 300,000 euros in Cyprus, and 500,000 euros in Portugal and Spain. That means the cost of a two-room apartment in downtown Beijing or Guangzhou could buy a well-maintained villa in any of those European countries.

According to a real estate agent, 90 percent of buyers from China make the deal after checking target houses in Europe. "They just show interest in real estate with the goal of immigration."

One Athens local said they are glad to see the housing policy attracting Chinese investors to buy up 30,000 houses in stock, which weren't attracting native residents because of the financial crisis.

In addition to the affordable price and permanent residency, better circumstances and educational environment also are attracting Chinese to buy houses in these countries.

Che Li, vice manager of a real estate company in Cyprus, said she spends 5,000 euros sending her son to a local private school, much less than the school tuition of 150,000 yuan ($24,645) in Beijing. "It's much cheaper. And he will learn English, Greek, French, and German in school. The tuition is definitely worth it."

However, the dream comes with risk. With more Chinese buying houses in these countries, Joao Botrlho, a lawyer in Portugal, suggests Chinese buyers hire lawyers to help with purchasing procedures.

Another lawyer warns investors to keep a close eye on local property tax policies.