D.C.
Top Spot for Foreign Real Estate Investors in
2009
By Tierney Plumb
Washington Business
Journal, January 27, 2009
Foreign investors in real estate expect to spend
much more this year than they did in 2008, according
to an annual survey by the Association of Foreign
Investors in Real Estate.
After two years, D.C. regained its No. 1 status
as the top global city for foreign investment
in properties, followed by London and New York.
Compared to transactions completed by October
2008, equity investors plan to increase investment
activity by 40 percent globally and by 73 percent
in the U.S. The D.C.-based association’s
near-200 members from 21 countries -- who hold
approximately $371 billion of real estate in the
U.S. -- responded to the survey in the last quarter
of 2008. The U.S. provides the best opportunity
for capital appreciation, according to 37 percent
of the group’s members. With 16 percent
of the votes, Brazil jumped 10 places to No. 2
to bump China down to No. 3. The U.S. also gives
the most stable and secure real estate investments,
according to 53 percent of those surveyed.
“Our investor members have expressed a
growing confidence and interest in U.S. real estate,”
said James Fetgatter, chief executive of the 21-year-old
association, in a statement. “Their investment
plans for 2009 for the U.S. resemble the flight
to quality that is creating the demand for U.S.
Treasuries.”
D.C., which currently has the lowest unemployment
rate in the country at 4.1 percent, was the most
attractive U.S. city for investment dollars. New
York (No. 2), San Francisco (No. 3), Los Angeles
(No. 4) and Houston (No. 5) rounded out the top
five.
Respondents said the multi-family sector was
the preferred property type for their investments,
followed by office, industrial, retail, and hotel
properties. For the last two years, office properties
came ahead of the multi-family sector.
For the fist time, the survey asked to what extent
a building’s “green” attributes
influenced the decision to buy a property, to
which 11 percent said “significantly so,”
and 60 percent said “somewhat so.”
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