Manhattan Still Attracts Global Buyers

Manhattan Towers

Manhattan properties are still enticing foreign buyers, according to The Corcoran Group of New York City.
"We thought our foreign buyers would flee, but they haven't as yet," Pamela Liebman, president and CEO of The Corcoran Group told a Reuters Global Real Estate and Infrastructure Summit in New York.
The next four to eight weeks will reveal whether the euro zone market chaos that recently swept the single currency to a 4-year low will eat away at foreign demand for Manhattan properties, she said.

The mix of foreign buyers has already shifted over the past two years.
Italians, South Americans, Southeast Asians, Chinese and Russians are in. The Irish and Koreans are out.

Foreign buyers are looking for a safe and secure place to put their money, and they are finding that in the best-known U.S. addresses, Jay Koster, president of Americas Capital Markets for Jones Lang LaSalle, told Reuters.
The current buyers are typically wealthy and looking to buy for families for the long term rather than to flip.

Empire State Building, New York

Corcoran recently closed an $8 million condo sale in the Trump International building, with Central Park views, for a South American family, Liebman said.

What's gone, Liebman said, are brokers representing Irish, South American or Korean investors in purchases of multiple units, at times entire buildings.

Traffic at Manhattan Street

While the demand is still there, the supply isn't always sufficient.
Koster said foreigners are willing to stretch their limits for the sake of getting sought-after addressees.
U.S. mortgage rates have also fallen anew, with 30-year loans averaging near 4-3/4 percent, thanks to the euro zone turbulence. The flight to safety into U.S. Treasuries has pulled down yields used to peg home loan rates, boosting affordability here.