Earlier this year, US commercial real estate investors got a bit of a shock when they learned the results of the Washington, DC-based Association of Foreign Investors in
Real Estate survey: London had become the top city in which
foreign buyers want to invest. The British city had nudged New
York from its previous place as the No. 1 global city for real
estate investments. Perhaps even more surprising, the survey
revealed that New York City was no longer the only No. 1 city in
the US that appeals to foreign investors; Los Angeles also
ranked very favorably with foreign investors, and essentially
tied with New York in the survey.
The AFIRE survey, however, is not a story about New York’s
decline in the rankings, or for that matter, the surprising ascendancy of Los Angeles. Rather, it is a story about diversification—
both within the US and most especially globally.
Nobody is finding fault
with the opportunities
and returns in the
US market. But
savvy investors also
realize that similar—
and sometimes even
better—opportunities
and returns also
await offshore.
STORY BY ERIKA MORPHY
ADIVERSIFICATION
Foreign Capital Flows
Last year, Madison International Realty and
Oxford Properties acquired the Sony Center in
Berlin. The $1-billion-plus transaction was the
largest deal in Germany and one of the largest
in Europe for 2017.
