Signs abound that foreign home buyers are returning to the New York City market. Data to verify what some real estate agents are saying are scant, though.
The pandemic made it unrealistic for international buyers to purchase real estate in the United States, given the travel restrictions and uncertainty about how high-end markets such as Manhattan would fare post-Covid. Some realtors are seeing a rebound in international interest, however, according to the New York Post.
With restrictions and pandemic measures being eased, international buyers are being enticed by steep pricing discounts and the sense that they won’t last. A Douglas Elliman report stated that the average Manhattan apartment sales price increased 12 percent last quarter.
Buyers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan are among those making inroads in the city’s housing market.
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Some of the biggest purchases this year have been by international buyers. Alibaba’s Joe Tsai, a citizen of Taiwan and Hong Kong, was recently revealed as the buyer of a $157 million two-unit package at 220 Central Park South, the biggest residential sale of the year so far in the city.
Joe Tsai (Twitter)
A managing partner of Centurion Real Estate Partners told the Post there had been a 33 percent increase in international traffic over the first half of the year at the 20-story condo tower 212 West 72nd Street, one of the priciest condo filings of last year.
Not everyone is convinced that the international buyer pool is back, though.
“I just got back from a trip from Europe and a lot of [potential buyers] don’t feel comfortable coming back to the States,” Tal Alexander of Douglas Elliman told the Post.
[NYP] — Holden Walter-Warner