Here's The Difference Between Wealthy US And Chinese Home Buyers

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China’s wealthy real estate buyers are snapping up property a lot more often than their American counterparts, according to a new report from Sotheby’s International Realty, which breaks down profiles of wealthy real estate buyers around the globe.

According to the report, 96% of affluent Chinese consumers have purchased a property within the past three years. In comparison, just 54% of affluent American consumers — those who have over $2 million in assets — have bought a property.

Chinese real estate investors also rate location as a top priority, favoring Asia over both Europe and North America for their mansions. 48% want their home to be eco-friendly.

For American real estate investors, location is also still a top priority. They prefer to live in North America, and value a property that they have designed themselves over an estate that is eco-friendly, historically significant, or with famous former owners.

The annual Sotheby’s International Realty Luxury Lifestyle Report was compiled with data from a survey sent out to its affluent consumers over 25 years of age all over the world between January 28 and February 18, 2014. They also collected data from sothebysrealty.com from Google Website Analytics between January 1, 2013 and January 1, 2014. You can read more about the methodology here.

Here's What Wealthy People Want In Their Luxury Homes

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In its annual Luxury Lifestyle Report, Sotheby’s International Realty breaks down what’s important to wealthy real estate buyers.

When it came to amenities, Sotheby’s International Realty brokers said the number of clients who wanted a home with “smart amenities” has increased drastically over the last two years. These include appliances, lighting, entertainment systems, security, and more that can be controlled remotely from anywhere in the world.

China’s wealthy real estate investors also valued space to display their massive art collections, while U.S. buyers were mostly interested in having a multi-car collector’s garage, according to the report.

But location was definitely the top priority for luxury buyers around the world, with 71% of respondents telling Sotheby’s International Realty they would pay more for the home's location over its size, historic significance, or previous (famous) owners.

And where do the 1% around the world want to live? Anywhere close to the water.

Luxury buyers in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., Brazil, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, China, Australia, New Zealand, as well as those in Caribbean and Central America all searched predominantly for waterfront properties on sothebysrealty.com.

But high-end buyers from Spain, Venezuela, and Mexico were all more likely to look for mountain mansions. Russia was a major outlier, with its wealthy residents searching for countryside properties 83% of the time.

The survey was sent to Sotheby’s International Realty's affluent consumers over 25 years old all over the world, from the U.S. to China, between January 28 and February 18, 2014. Search data came from sothebysrealty.com using Google Website Analytics between January 1, 2013 and January 1, 2014. You can read more about the methodology here.