[LOS ANGELES] Henry Nunez, a real estate agent in Arcadia, California, met with so many homebuyers from China that he bought a Mandarin-English translation app for his phone.

The US$1.99 purchase paid off last month, when he sold a five-bedroom home with crystal chandeliers, marble floors and two kitchens, one designed for smoky wok cooking. The buyers were a Chinese couple who paid US$3.5 million in cash.

"Last year, it would've been US$2.8 million," said Mr Nunez, a property broker for 27 years in the city 32 kilometres east of Los Angeles. "The biggest driver is a lot of people wanting to invest their money here."