Last year, the Association of Realtors reported that they spent $92.2 billion on US homes over a 12-month period, up 35% from a year earlier. Chinese investors spent $22 billion, up 72%. They paid a median price of $523,000. And 76% paid cash. They're desperate to get their money out of China!

Yet with all the official vigilance and handwringing in the US about money laundering and the crackdown on Americans trying to stash some money overseas to escape the sinewy arm of US tax authorities, no one in America apparently asks foreigners where this money comes from.

Other trophy cities where rich foreigners from corrupt countries like to buy are Washington DC, Miami, and New York.