For months, real estate insiders have championed the strength of Manhattan’s high-end condominium market, but according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of fourth-quarter city deeds, that hasn’t compensated for dismal results on the lower end of the island’s condo spectrum.

While the fourth-quarter is historically a slower sales season, volume is down 12 percent this year from the prior-year quarter. That decline was keyed by plummeting sales figures for condos, as co-op sales figures were short just 1.3 percent from last year’s fourth-quarter.

Overall, closed condo sales sunk 24 percent from the final three months of 2010, and more than 30 percent for sales worth less than $1 million. [more]

The influx of foreign buyers into the New York City condominium market has added a new job description for brokers, according to the Wall Street Journal, as they’re increasingly managing the leasing process on behalf of overseas owners.

For these brokers, performing background checks on renters, collecting rent, paying utility bills and overseeing repairs and renovations have become as much a part of the job as selling apartments. While larger landlords outsource these duties to management companies, few such services exist for individual apartment owners, the Journal said. [more]

One57 and Extell President Gary Barnett

While Extell Development’s bet on One57 might seem quite risky, the ultra-luxury market has actually never been better, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The 90-story development, which currently rises about 50 stories into the skyline, will ask nearly $100 million for penthouse units, the Journal said. And although the $1.4 billion project requires massive borrowing, Extell President Gary Barnett is confident in what he tells the Journal is an ever-growing number billionaires and multi-millionaires across the globe. [more]

Foreign buyers are propelling home sales in U.S. vacation spots hit hard by the economic downturn, USA Today reported. South Florida is a prime example, with 31 percent of the region’s sales attributed to foreign buyers in the year ending March, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors.
Foreign buyers are attracted by low U.S. home prices, which are down 30 percent since 2006, and how their currency holds up against the weakened dollar. The Canadian dollar, for example, has jumped 18 percent against the U.S. dollar, while the euro gained 22 percent, according to data tracker Oanda. [more]

Foreign buying in U.S. residential real estate surged by $16 billion this year, with both international investors and recent immigrants from 70 different countries taking new residences across the country, according to a new report by the National Association of Realtors. Total international sales of U.S. homes rose to $82 billion for the 12 months that ended in March 2011, the report says, up from $66 billion in the previous 12-month period. Overall, U.S. residential sales totaled $1.07 trillion during the year. Canadians dominated the foreign buying pool, accounting for 23 percent of international sales, while China was the second most frequent country of origin, with 9 percent. TRD [more]

International buyers have always played a central role in the Manhattan residential marketplace, accounting for an estimated 10 to 15 percent of all sales in the city almost every year, and the weakness of the dollar is continuing to drive international sales, the New York Times reported. In recent years, much of the new development in Midtown — including projects like the 60-story Setai Fifth Avenue and the 48-unit Centurion — has been marketed to foreigners. Close to half of the units in the Centurion have been sold, all but one to a foreign buyer, according to a building spokesperson.

“I think foreigners are coming back into the New York City market with a vengeance,” said Khashy Eyn, the CEO of brokerage Platinum Properties, which has opened a Paris office to serve the New York market. Some countries have also eased banking rules that regulate the transfer of money, making transactions simpler for these foreign buyers, many of whom view New York real estate as a safe haven, compared to the political instability in their own countries. [NYT]

[more]

Two years after buying almost $6 billion in U.S. commercial real estate — more than Europe, Asia and the Americas combined — Middle Eastern investors have almost disappeared from the American market, the International Property Journal reported.
In 2009, Middle Eastern buyers accounted for only $100 million in deals, but so far in 2010, the Middle East isn’t even on the top 10 list of foreign investors, according to data from Real Capital Analytics. The drop-off is in sharp contrast to interest from other investors around the globe, who are buying U.S. commercial property with renewed vigor, RCA said. After investing $1.5 billion in the first quarter, foreign interests bought up $2.5 billion in commercial property in the second quarter, accounting for about 10 percent of deals. The number was closer to 20 percent in core markets like Manhattan, Los Angeles, Boston and San Francisco. [International Property Journal]

[more]

Spurred on by a recent rally in the U.S. dollar, more foreign buyers are taking a peek at New York City residential real estate, according to Reuters, causing optimism for some in the industry. Drew Glick, a broker with Brown Harris Stevens, said that international shoppers are ideal buyers, because they tend to be more financially stable than U.S. homebuyers. “The foreigners that are coming to buy now, they’re wealthy, they have all cash, they’re people who have weathered the financial storm that the whole world has been through,” Glick said. Although he said that there are fewer foreign buyers today than there were two years ago, Glick also said that as many as 15 to 20 percent of shoppers at some of his listings are from overseas.

34 Greene Street and Sorgente’s Veronica Mainetti

Sales launched recently at the Sorgente Group’s 34 Greene Street, a new seven-unit Soho condo with plenty of elegant touches, and foreign buyers have since been paying it a lot of attention. Sorgente, which purchased the Flatiron Building last year and has been rumored to be zeroing in on the Woolworth Building, acquired 34 Greene in 2007. “Initially, it was primarily Europeans [looking for] a pied-a-terre,” said Jason Karadus of Prudential Douglas Elliman, who is the listing broker. “Europeans are less interested in things like a spa, a concierge and cold storage, and a lot of bells and whistles. They want something a little more quintessentially New York.” The condo may not have fancy amenities, but it does have a 5,000-square-foot duplex penthouse with 15-foot ceilings and 2,200 square feet of private outdoor space — which has been readied for the installation of a swimming pool. The penthouse is listed at $13.75 million and has already received a $10 million all-cash offer, which Sorgente’s Veronica Mainetti turned down. Downstairs, a European buyer has already snapped up a two-bedroom, 1,997-square-foot unit. It is in contract for about $4 million. [Post] [more]

As more international investors eye New York City real estate, brokerage firms are adding services to their repertoire to assist in the buying process for out-of-country shoppers. Paul Gottsegen, president of the Halstead Management Company, said his group launched Halstead360 so that foreign investors would be able to more easily purchase property. “Someone in Ireland can literally invest in a New York apartment without ever having to leave their own country,” Gottsegen said. “They can just wire funds for the closing, and we take it from there.” The service includes assistance from legal experts, accountants, and real estate wonks who can anticipate the problems an out-of-country buyer might face. “We’ve taken this real estate product, which people are frightened of, in a way, because they’re thinking, ‘who’s going to handle it?’” Gottsegen said. “It’s a little scarier than a stock.” This kind of service could be cropping up in the coming months, industry experts say, as more sellers will start to rely on foreign interest in the down domestic market.