Chart: Check out the world's top buyers and sellers of property

When it comes to the biggest buyers and sellers of real estate in the world, the US tops the sellers’ league, while Chinese developers and property companies dominate the buyers’. In other words, the West is selling to to the East, and private wealth and sovereign wealth funds are buying real estate from banks and institutions, according to a poll conducted by international real estate company Savills.

Top real estate buyers and sellers by country of origin

_Source: Real Capital Analytics, year to February 2014, Savills Report
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Real estate currently accounts for around a ?fth of the invested wealth of ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) and the use of private equity in major property deals worth at least US$10 million has nearly trebled
since 2009, the survey showed. In fact around 35% of global big ticket deals in 2012 wereonly possible because of private funding.

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“Since the debt crisis they have stepped into the property deals that corporate bankers have deserted,” the report said.