New York Most 'Alluring' U.S. City For Foreign Investors

View Story On One Page

Print This Story

Share This Story

By Dana Rubinstein

July 11, 2008 | 11:35 a.m.

An Abu Dhabi fund recently bought a large stake in the Chrysler Building.

+Enlarge

mark & gideon via flickr.

At least Australians can afford property in New York City!

The comparative weakness of the dollar and the tanking American economy, coupled with New York City's international cache, have made New York top dog among American cities in its ability to soak up the international real estate dollars, according to Forbes.

The other cities in the top 10 -- which is based on an annual Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate Survey -- include: 10-Orlando; 9-Phoenix; 8-Las Vegas; 7-Chicago; 6-Boston; 5-Seattle; 4-San Francisco; 3-Los Angeles; and 2-Washington, D.C.

According to the article:

New York holds the top spot, but not because of the much celebrated pied-à-terre buyers in Manhattan using the weak dollar to buy into pricey neighborhoods, a trend that has flattened out, says Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, a New York appraisal firm. Instead, opportunities in office buildings and multi-family residences--whole apartment buildings, not individual units--are the most alluring to overseas investors.

Internationally, the U.S. remains the top market:

Based on the results of this year's Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate survey, the U.S. is the top nation for international real estate dollars, even as interest in Asian markets like India and China continues to rise and the U.S. economy slows. AFIRE, a member organization of international investors with $700 billion in cross-border holdings, expects that investment in the U.S. to increase by 16% from last year's $230 billion mark.