Luxury Property is proud to announce the first of many foreign-language blogs

iHaozhhai.cn is the Chinese language version of The Luxury Property Blog. With a Chinese domain name, in-country translation and research, Chinese search engine optimization and a strong program of promotions, Luxury Property Dot Com will soon become a force to be reckoned with in the international luxury real estate market.

For those of you interested in joining our growing team of professional real estate bloggers, this development represents an extremely interesting breakthrough. If you are - as you aught to be - considering the fact that China is becoming a global power house financially, the opportunity to reach a Chinese audience, in Chinese is really too good to be missed.

The Luxury Property Blog offers the opportunity to speak to Chinese buyers in their own language, offering luxury properties for sale to one of the wealthiest group of buyers in the world. According to a study by Merrill Lynch (present mistakes not-withstanding) China boasted 345,000 millionaires in October 2007, up 7.8% from the previous year.

China also has 4,935 Ultra-High Net Worth Individuals, with financial assets in excess of US$ 30 million, along with 106 dollar billionaires.  

We would suggest that to ignore this market and pool of potential luxury real estate buyers would be a mistake, and are fully committed to a presence in the Chinese Luxury Real Estate market, along with plans to enter other foreign markets in the not-too-distant future.

If you are interested in writing a blog on your real estate market with the possibility of having your words translated into Chinese  and published on a Chinese blog, please contact: Mark Knowles

As the dollars, euros and pounds continue to pour into China, a new breed has emerged. Wealthy, high-net-worth individuals with the desire and wherewithal to flaunt their wealth. China is rapidly becoming one of the largest consumers of high-end goods in the world. Estimates put China as the third largest luxury goods consumer, accounting for a minimum of 12% of the market, with Goldman Sachs suggesting that this will rise to around 30% by the year 2015.

No wonder then, that luxury retailers are flocking to the Chinese high streets and Malls, creating some of the most expensive retail real estate in the process.

Giorgio Armani was one of the first brands to enter the market, opening their  flagship store in 2004. Armani now have no less than 12 stores in Shanghai alone. Next to jump on the band wagon was Louis Vuitton, closely followed by Cartier, Hermes, Giorgio Armani, Prada, Gucci, Escada, Celine and Emmenengildo Zegna.

Luxury automobile manufacturers were the next group: Porsche, Ferrari, Bentley and Rolls Royce all opening new dealerships in China by 2005.

Indicators of the luxury retail rush are everywhere. Saks Fifth Avenue will open its first store in China in 2008, in Shanghai, under a licensing deal with Roosevelt China Investments Corp. Tiffany & Co. is set to unveil new stores this year in Beijing and Shanghai, both of which already have one Tiffany store each. New York City-based watch retailer Tourneau opened two stores in Shanghai in August, the first of 30 it plans to have in China within five years. Cartier operates 12 stores there now and has five more under construction. The company anticipates that 10 percent of its sales will be coming from China by 2012.

Ernst & Young published a report last year on the Chinese luxury market that says 13.5 percent of China’s consumers can afford luxury items. Most of these are between 20 and 40 years old and have a “spend now and worry later” attitude, the report says. The most active consumers are men.

Luxury department store Saks fifth avenue are also planning an entry into the Chinese market, but seem to be having trouble with the local sub licensee. Roosevelt China Investment Corp. recently announced that it has terminated its sublicense agreement with I.T. Ltd. "While we have terminated the arrangement with IT, we continue to seek an alliance with local market experts and remain committed to opening a licensed Saks Fifth Avenue store in Shanghai in 2009," said Tweed Roosevelt, Chairman of Roosevelt China Corp. Current plans are for the licensed Saks Fifth Avenue store to be situated in one of the most dramatic and historical buildings in China, the former Jardine-Matheson headquarters on the Bund. Plans call for the building to be fully renovated to its original grandeur with a flagship presence in the newly renovated Bund area. Saks Fifth Avenue is a part of Saks Incorporated.

"We are committed to bringing Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the world’s finest luxury department stores, to the burgeoning Chinese retail market,” said Mr. Roosevelt.

Napa Reserve recently opened a flagship store in Shanghai, selling premium Napa Valley wines. Shanghai is currently being described as the Manhattan of China, although one Napa valley wag on a recent trip described Shanghai as “New York on steroids.” Doesn’t bear thinking about.  
 
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