Questions for Kimo: Is investing in China's Real Estate markets still advisable and where can I go to find out about investing in the markets there?  

Your first question is a complicated one especially since change is a constant and acceptance toward foreign investment is being tempered by Bejing's concerns for a more moderate and controlled growth in it's red hot real estate boom. There have also been whisperings of a Real Estate bust in Shanghai due to heavy foreign investment in that particular market. What does that mean for future investment, now I'm not an expert on foreign investment and I can't say for certain but lots of people are making lots of money both foreign and local and that will probably continue.  

It's hard to describe this frenetic energy that envelops Real Estate in China until you go there and see it for yourself. There are many investment vehicles to choose from but before you start throwing money at Chinese Real Estate Investment Funds or buying Condos you should understand that China is not necessarily immune to bubbles and busts.

If your seriously thinking of investing, I would suggest attending the GRI (Global Real Estate Institute)conference in Beijing in June 08.  

This particular conference is not your typical event where endless numbers of speakers address the multitudes in didactic oratories, rather it is an intimate environment of discussion groups where you can speak and interact directly with both international and Chinese developers and fellow investors as well.   Here is an example of some of the discussion topics at this years conference in Beijing.  

• where to allocate money  
• are foreigners welcome  
• commercial real estate, what are the investment options  
• business or leisure, economy or high end  
• foreign investment and local developer, fad or trend  
• choosing partners

Next years conference will be held in Singapore and will constitue investing in Asian markets as a whole. If traveling in June is too soon, I would suggest attending next years conference instead.

For expert advice on investment in China I suggest contacting HIREC: Hawaii International Real Estate Committee. Some of it's members are licensed Real Estate professionals in both the US and China.

e-mail Lawrence Van Hoey at larr@rmi.net for additional information.