Brexit was “black eye” for NYC real estate: Barbara Corcoran

Corcoran says English buyers have left the market, but Chinese are ramping up investment

Barbara Corcoran
Barbara Corcoran

British investors may have disappeared from the New York City real estate market, but Chinese buyers are stepping in to fill the gap, according to real estate heavyweight Barbara Corcoran.

Corcoran said there is huge interest from Chinese buyers across the United States.

“We’ve totally lost all of our buyers from England,” Corcoran told Bloomberg Radio. “We don’t see any more buyers at all. It was a real black eye for us in the New York City market.”

Corcoran [TRDataCustom] said Chinese buyers are “coming in droves,” and are “spending money like they’re printing it.” She said Chinese interest is not restricted to big urban centers like New York City, pointing out many California wineries have been sold to Chinese nationals recently.

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The Brexit vote in June had many local brokers predicting international investors would turn their interest to New York City. There’s no doubt London’s housing market has experienced a significant slowdown — sales of homes under construction in London slumped 14 percent year-over-year in the quarter following the vote.

China’s property market has its own problems, with economists increasingly warning the market is a bubble on the brink of popping.

Chinese nationals have poured money into New York City real estate in recent years.  This month, The Real Deal looked at the founders of four of the most prominent firms investing in the city’s real estate.  [Bloomberg] Miriam Hall