US-based developers, who have ventured into China and provinceslike Chengdu, have been noticeably quiet about the state of theirproperties while they concentrate on providing financial aid andteams to the devastated areas. The May 12 quake, registering 7.9 onthe Richter scale, has claimed 62,000 lives with 30,000 stillmissing and more than five million people left homeless.

To a large degree, the thousands of buildings and residencesthat crumbled were older structures and not newer ones being builtto international building codes, according to Mark Karlan,president of Strategic Partners Asia for Los Angeles-based CBRichard Ellis Investors. In Dujiangyan for example, news reportssay many residential buildings are cracked and now empty, but theydidn't topple.

"It's way too early to say if there will be any meaningfulimpact from an investors' standpoint," Karlan tells GlobeSt.com."There will be a negligible economic impact on the nation as awhole, but there will be a massive impact on the region and massiveimpact on the people."