Downtown Detroit is home to one of the worst housing markets in the country, as prices of homes have collapsed and foreclosures have soared in the city’s depressed economy.

But some Chinese investors hungry for real estate are hoping Detroit’s losses will be their gain. After Detroit filed for bankruptcy July 18, Motor City property has been a hot topic on China’s social media platform, Weibo, according to a Quartz.com report.

News of the bankruptcy, coupled with a Chinese TV report in March that claimed you could buy two houses in Detroit for the same price as a pair of leather shoes, has piqued investors' interest.  

Quartz spoke to Caroline Chen, a real estate broker based in Troy, Mich., who says she has received “tons of calls” from mainland Chinese expressing serious interest in the market.

“I have people calling and saying, ‘I’m serious -- I wanna buy 100, 200 properties,’” Chen said. She added that a colleague had recently sold 30 properties to a single Chinese buyer.

Chinese housing is among the most expensive in the world. Capital controls also make investing big sums in overseas stocks or property a challenge.

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