Chinese replace Russians as top property buyers in New York

Potential homebuyers from China on a tour, looking to purchase property in California in September 2013 - Bay Area News Group/MCT.

NEW YORK/SYDNEY: For the first time, the Chinese have become the biggest foreign buyers of apartments in Manhattan, real estate brokers estimate, taking the mantle from the Russians, whose activity has dropped off since the unrest in Ukraine.

Wealthy Chinese are pouring money into real estate in New York and some other major cities around the world, including London and Sydney, as they seek safe havens for their cash and to  establish a base for their children to get an education in the West.