Nationally, the number of deals worth more than $1 billion were down 75 percent last year compared to 2016. By contrast, the total volume of deals under $250 million fell only 12 per cent. The investment drop was largely the result of stricter capital controls and regulations by the Chinese government. But the U.S. was hit harder than other markets, and was dethroned by Canada as the top target of Chinese investments. Singapore was the second largest destination, while the U.S. dropped to third place.

Chinese investors were involved in two of the top 10 deals in the U.S. last year, and investors continue to show interest in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle where three quarters of its capital has been invested. New York and San Francisco alone received two-thirds of every Chinese dollar. Seattle's share of the total remained constant at about one percent.

Chinese investments in residential real estate in Seattle has also fallen but interest remains strong particulrly in Eastside markets, said Dean Jones, CEO of Realogics. Interest is particularly strong among Chinese investors in luxury properties Jones said. He pointed out that the Asian Real Estate Association of America would be having its Global + Luxury summit in Seattle in early April.