A report from the Bay Area Newsgroup in California. "Foreign buyers have cooled on the U.S. residential home market, dropping investments by more than one-third over the previous year and spending less in expensive California. About one-third of foreign purchases in California during a recent 12-month period were made by Chinese citizens. In the midst of a growing trade war, overall Chinese investment in U.S. residential real estate fell from $30.4 billion to $13.4 billion in the last year."

"Foreign buyers, defined as non-U.S. residents and visa-holding foreigners living in the U.S., cut their spending by more than one-third, from $121 billion to $78 billion between the 12 months periods of 2017-18 and 2018-19, according to the survey. 'It’s just a big drop,' Gay Cororaton, senior economist for the National Association of Realtors. Political and commercial uncertainty during the trade disputes likely drove away Chinese investors. 'If they don’t know how business conditions will be, they might not invest.'"

"Soaring real estate prices in California have driven many buyers to the sidelines. Bay Area home sales in June dipped to the lowest levels for that month since the depths of the financial crisis and recession in 2008. In a region with 7 million residents, just 7,300 home and condos were sold in June."

"Median sale prices for existing homes in the nine-county region fell slightly in the first half of the year, to $900,000 in June, according to real estate data firm CoreLogic. The median home price peaked in May 2018 at $928,000."

"Cororaton said the large drop surprised researchers. In California, she said, 'we’re attributing that drop to Chinese buyers.'