The Mythical Foreign Investor in US Real Estate
The Sunday New York Times reports on the influx of foreign buyers of new Manhattan condos... no surprise with the falling dollar making US real estate look cheaper, and the worldwide attraction of New York as a cosmopolitan nexus. Beyond this article, there are literally no recent news about foreign real estate investors in the US despite the fact that rumors abound. I could find only one topical article from National Real Estate Investment online about foreign investment in smaller cities. I cited several older resources on foreign investment in the US within July's US real estate looking attractive to foreigners.
We know Asians like to buy condos in brand new high rises - it's the customary practice in Tokyo, Seoul or Shanghai. As San Francisco repositions itself as a West Coast Manhattan and gateway to Asia, the 25,000 or so new condos coming online in the South of Market area would seem to be attractive to the Asian investor.
The condos will appeal to superrich part-time residents who drop in from Hong Kong or the East Coast: studies show that San Francisco’s newest real estate is a global bargain at $1,000 to $1,500 per square foot compared to $2,000 in New York, $2,300 in London, and $2,500 in Hong KongSo where are the media reports on these mythical foreign investors?
(the dollar has since dropped another 12% since this article was written in June)
NAR published 2007 study about international buyers in the the US. We had a blog post about it (http://http://activerain.com/blogsview/219083/Hard-Data-About-International) and the REALTOR Association of Greater Miami and the the Beaches (RAM
Tony
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I think alot of people are looking to the United States for buying real estate and setting up retail operations. When you look at the value of US real estate compared to other real estate in other countries, it is still fairly cheap.
Asset prices in Europe are not cheap, not even by Pound of Euro standards. The US provides stability and yields that many foreign investors are comfortable with right now.
The fact that the dollar is dropping in value is a completely differnt animal in itself, but the exchange rates are driving International REITS and retailers to open stores in the United States.
Marcus
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