From The Times
February 16, 2009

Rich Chinese fly in to buy bargain homes in US

Jane Macartney in Beijing

China's economy may be cooling rapidly, but that doesn't mean that Beijing's super-rich are feeling the pinch. On the contrary, many see the global downturn as a chance to buy a bargain - wherever it might be. That's why a group of them will be setting off this month for a shopping spree in the United States.

They will not be splashing out on jewels or designer suits, but on houses foreclosed in the recession.

Such is their hunger for a property bargain that a trip organised by SouFun Holdings, China's leading property website company, was heavily oversubscribed. The 40 who will make the tour expect to be buying properties costing several hundred thousand dollars.

Mo Tianquan, the chairman of Soufun.com, told The Times that his clients were hardly run-of-the-mill Chinese in a country where GDP per head is about $4,000 a year. “These people are not ordinary members of the masses,â€