Dolly Lenz, vice chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman, revealed a new term for the foreign money flooding the city’s ultra-luxury real estate market: “fright capital.”
In an appearance on CNBC this afternoon (watch the video above), Lenz said concerns about the global marketplace are bringing European and Chinese money to high-end New York City condominiums, and pushing prices beyond the reach of the typical wealthy New York buyer.
Surprisingly, she said that the Russian presence in the market is beginning to wane, contradicting recent declarations that their influence would only grow.
Nevertheless, the high, all-cash bids by foreigners are relegating native New Yorkers to the co-op market. While domestic home buyers can’t always compete with foreigners’ huge budgets, they tend to be more willing to disclose information to a co-op board in order to land a trophy city property at a relatively cheaper price.
Though Lenz acknowledged that next to none of the buyers at the top of the city’s market have any need to be tracking mortgage rates, she provided a interesting note on her own home loan. The power broker said she’s refinanced seven times in the last year alone.