中国家长争买海外学区房

Chinese businessman Li Sheng is looking for a $900,000, four-bedroom home in Australia, where he hopes his two children will someday attend college. At this point, neither child has finished grade school -- one is still in diapers -- but Mr. Li hopes to buy a family home in Melbourne in the next year.
李胜和他的妻子目前居住在中国哈尔滨，他们正在澳大利亚墨尔本物色房产。他们希望，将来有一天，他们的两个孩子（一个10岁大，一个8个月大）可以在墨尔本上大学。中国商人李胜（音）正在澳大利亚寻找一套价格在90万美元、带有四个卧室的住宅，他希望将来有一天他的两个孩子能在澳大利亚大上学。现在，他的一个孩子还在上小学，另一个孩子还穿着尿布，但李胜希望明年就在墨尔本购买一套家庭住宅。

Mr. Li, who lives in Harbin, an industrial city in northern China, sees the purchase as a good investment in both his real-estate portfolio and his children's future. While China has plenty of universities, he and other affluent parents say they want their children to experience life abroad, where the educational system is less rigid. 'In Chinese families, the parents make the choice for their kids,' Mr. Li, 40, says. When his children get older, 'I don't want to make choices for them. I want them to do it themselves.'
李胜目前居住在中国东北工业城市哈尔滨，他认为这既是对房地产、也是对孩子未来的一个很好的投资。虽然中国也有很多大学，但他和其他富有的家长表示，希望孩子体验国外的生活，国外的教育没有中国那么死板。现年40岁的李胜说，中国的父母常常替孩子做决定。他说，等他的孩子长大后，他不想替孩子做决定，他希望孩子们自己做决定。

In an effort to increase the likelihood of their children studying abroad, a growing group of Chinese buyers is snapping up high-end real estate in college towns around the world. Some Chinese buyers are using the properties to meet the universities' residency requirements. Luxury homes also offer their children an upscale alternative to dorm life. Most important, many hope that real-estate purchases will help pay the costly university tuition.
为了提高孩子在国外学习的可能性，越来越多的中国买家纷纷入手全球大学城的高端房地产。一些中国买家利用这些物业来满足大学对居住的要求。此外，豪宅也可以给他们的孩子提供比住大学宿舍更好的选择。最重要的，许多人希望投资房地产可以帮助支付孩子高昂的大学学费。

'Parents might buy several apartments, one for their child to study in and one to bring in an investment return,' says Andrew Taylor, co-CEO of Juwai.com, a Shanghai-based real-estate portal that features world-wide property listings for Chinese home buyers.
Andrew Hinderaker for The Wall Street Journal房地产经纪人布朗最近卖出了一套位于曼哈顿One 57大楼（如图所示）的公寓，售价650万美元。购买这套公寓的中国购房者希望，她2岁大的女儿将来有一天能用得上这套公寓。上海房地产门户网站居外(Juwai.com)的联席首席执行长泰勒(Andrew Taylor)表示，家长可能会买下几套公寓，一套给孩子上学时用，另一套用来获取投资收益。居外主要为中国买家提供全球各地的房地产信息。

A few months ago, Kevin Brown, a real-estate broker in New York, sold a $6.5 million, two-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath condo in Manhattan's One 57 building to a Chinese woman from Hong Kong. One reason for the purchase: Her daughter, who was 2 years old, could use the apartment if she decided to go to New York University or Columbia University, Mr. Brown says. For now, Mr. Brown says his client plans to rent out the unit and estimates she will earn a 3% return on her investment each year. 'Family and financial planning all mix into one,' Mr. Brown says. 'Where we have a one-year or three-year plan, they generally have a 20-year plan.'
几个月前，纽约的房地产经纪人布朗(Kevin Brown)向一位来自香港的中国女士出售了一套公寓。这套公寓位于曼哈顿的One 57大楼，带有两间卧室、三个盥洗室（其中一间没有淋浴设备），售价650万美元。布朗说，这位女士的购房理由是，她的女儿（现在2岁）将来如果决定上纽约大学(New York University)或者哥伦比亚大学(Columbia University)，这套公寓可能会用得上。Brown表示，现在他的客户计划将公寓出租，估计每年的投资回报率在3%，这样做同时兼顾了家庭和理财计划，可谓一举两得。他说，在美国人们会制定一个1年或者3年计划，但中国人通常都是制定20年计划。

Since 1978, more than 2.6 million Chinese students have gone to school abroad, according to the latest statistics available from China's Ministry of Education. And the number of Chinese students studying abroad increased nearly 18% in 2012 compared with 2011. In a survey published last year, about 80% of high-net-worth Chinese individuals said they planned to send their children overseas to study, according to the Hurun Research Institute, which tracks China's wealthy individuals. At the same time, the cost of real estate in big cities such as Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai has skyrocketed, making a $1 million condo in Boston look like a relative bargain. 'In Beijing you can buy a home for about $600 a square foot,' says Patty Chen, founder of the PattyC Property Group, which helps Asian buyers find real estate in the U.S. 'In Boston, you can buy a home for about $400 a square foot.'
Weber Thompson计划建设的24层公寓大厦1321 Seneca的效果图。该大厦位于西雅图First Hill附近，开发商在亚洲推销该项目时称这是适合学生的住宅项目。来自中国教育部的最新数据显示，自1978年以来，有超过260万中国学生赴海外留学。2012年，中国留学生数量较2011年增长了近18%。据追踪中国富人的胡润研究院(Hurun Research Institute)称，去年公布的一项调查显示，约80%的中国富人表示他们计划将孩子送到国外上学。与此同时，香港、北京、上海等大城市的房价一路飙涨，这让波士顿一套100万美元的公寓看上去相对不太贵。派蒂克房地产集团(PattyC Property Group)的创始人陈艺平(Patty Chen)表示，北京房价现在是每平方英尺约600美元（约合每平方米人民币4万元），而在波士顿，只要400美元就能买下一平方英尺（约合每平方米人民币2.67万元）。派蒂克房地产集团主要帮助亚洲人在美国找房子。

Developers, too, are catching on, marketing new units as student-friendly. In May, Dean Jones, owner of Realogics Sotheby's International Realty in Seattle, will travel to a Beijing luxury property show to market student-friendly real-estate projects, such as 1321 Seneca, a planned 24-story condo tower in Seattle's First Hill neighborhood, near downtown.
地产开发商也在迎合这种需求，推销适合学生的新住宅。今年5月，西雅图Realogics Sotheby's International Realty的公司所有人琼斯(Dean Jones)将参加在北京举行的一个豪华住宅展览会以便推销适合学生的住宅项目，比如1321 Seneca。该项目计划建一座24层的公寓大厦，位于西雅图First Hill附近，靠近市中心。