Canadian investment in NYC real estate hits record high, eh

Forget the Chinese and the Russians, the largest foreign investors in New York City real estate in the last decade are our neighbors to the north.

Canadians invested $3.8 billion into the city’s property market so far this year, already nearly doubling last year’s $1.97 billion total, and surpassing the previous record of $2 billion set in 2007, according to Real Capital Analytics.

Canadian investors have purchased $15.5 billion worth of property in the city in the last decade, more than any other foreign country.

The charge has been led by institutional investors like the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Bloomberg reported.

“Canadian investors — pension funds, private equity — are sitting on a pile of wealth that needs to be invested,” Real Capital senior vice president Jim Costello said. “There’s an understanding that there’s always somebody who wants to buy an asset in New York.”

Ivanhoe Cambridge, the Caisse’s real estate arm, bought 3 Bryant Park earlier this year from the Blackstone Group, at the time the city’s largest single office building deal since 2008, valued at $2.2 billion.

Another pension fund subsidiary, Oxford Properties Group, is developing Hudson Yard along with the Related Companies. [Bloomberg] – Ariel Stulberg