When it comes to the global cities attracting the most overseas investment from around the world, the top line is clear. Everyone wants to be in America. Or at least that is where they want their money. Three-quarters of the top 10 cities based on foreign investment flows in 2015 are American. New York tops the league having attracted a whopping $79.8bn, with Los Angeles and San Francisco coming in at three and four with investment hitting $35.8bn and $32bn respectively.
Washington DC, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta also appear in the top 10 alongside Paris, Tokyo and London, which follows New York in second position with an investment volume of $55.3bn.
“The US is a huge, huge investment market,” says Tom Leahy, director of market analysis at Real Capital Analytics, the research company behind the data. “Investors have been very active there. And have been for several years. We all know about New York. But Los Angeles is also a very big market. It has been in the top five of this league since 2011.”
But as to whether similar spending patterns and this focus on longstanding, popular cities will remain unchanged over the next few years, Leahy is unsure: “Last year I would have given a very straightforward answer as to which cities would be top of the league in 2015. And I would have pretty much listed the ones we can see in the top 10. But clearly we are entering a phase of instability and volatility in 2016.
“Markets exposed to oil prices are suffering and so the next 12 months is less easy to call. That could be seen as either a good or a bad thing. But the result will be that some markets will change. And remember that London did considerably better than New York in the last downturn. So it is really difficult to predict, even right up there at the top of the list.”
Rank
City/Metropolitan Area
Investment $bn
1
NYC Metropolitan Area
79,829,527,824
2
London Metropolitan Area
55,306,486,084
3
Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
35,804,775,674
4
San Francisco Metropolitan Area
32,078,956,754
5
Tokyo
31,828,447,246
6
Paris
26,306,812,939
7
Washington DC Metropolitan Area
22,525,441,298
8
Chicago
20,178,284,885
9
Dallas
17,272,017,500
10
Atlanta
15,641,982,764
11
Boston
15,460,981,603
12
Shanghai
14,495,201,944
13
South Florida
14,162,231,425
14
Seattle
13,046,161,717
15
Berlin-Brandenburg
12,153,558,975
16
Hong Kong
11,589,992,020
17
Sydney
10,963,948,093
18
Phoenix
10,750,257,216
19
Houston
10,311,743,953
20
Rhine-Ruhr
10,102,435,645
21
Melbourne
9,367,474,482
22
Denver
9,279,511,888
23
Frankfurt/Rhine-Main
8,941,964,184
24
Amsterdam/Randstad
8,633,949,426
25
San Diego
8,175,007,417
26
Toronto
7,261,699,041
27
Austin
7,244,705,864
28
Philadelphia Metropolitan Area
6,533,179,546
29
Orlando
6,521,391,655
30
Madrid
6,085,418,118
31
Munich
6,054,853,473
32
Stockholm
5,808,613,748
33
Osaka
5,503,418,761
34
Singapore
5,425,705,948
35
Milan
5,400,121,707
36
Baltimore
5,358,054,971
37
Portland
5,055,428,437
38
Hamburg
4,945,784,039
39
Beijing
4,791,477,152
40
Tampa
4,751,548,829
41
Raleigh/Durham
4,503,798,223
42
Brisbane
4,367,365,520
43
South Germany
4,346,516,925
44
Seoul
4,243,053,051
45
Hawaii
4,119,383,659
46
Manchester Metropolitan Area
3,982,007,647
47
Minneapolis
3,900,593,429
48
Charlotte
3,836,096,900
49
Dublin
3,707,729,982
50
Oslo
3,575,345,492
51
Stuttgart
3,512,941,408
52
Vienna
3,389,617,072
53
Birmingham
3,355,840,447
54
Copenhagen
3,280,804,815
55
Las Vegas
3,264,004,780
56
Saxon Triangle
3,203,142,876
57
Nashville
3,142,864,073
58
San Antonio
3,107,379,066
59
West Germany
3,103,654,757
60
Moscow
3,076,910,560
61
Vancouver
2,803,518,091
62
Central CA
2,759,677,541
63
Sacramento
2,515,157,182
64
Nanjing
2,512,526,635
65
Columbus
2,288,102,539
66
Barcelona
2,285,129,445
67
Detroit
2,221,639,891
68
Kansas City
2,160,912,934
69
Brussels
2,104,707,566
70
Indianapolis
2,098,508,201
71
Leeds
2,069,500,632
72
St Louis
2,000,320,181
73
SW Florida
1,985,315,557
74
Rome
1,955,677,883
75
Helsinki
1,909,275,704
76
Taipei
1,903,713,968
77
Montreal
1,885,184,721
78
Auckland
1,850,358,727
79
Prague
1,802,467,065
80
Glasgow
1,729,914,600
81
Hanover
1,728,808,316
82
Geneva
1,689,235,923
83
Jacksonville
1,616,985,691
84
Memphis
1,615,722,273
85
Reno
1,577,340,127
86
Newcastle
1,568,118,731
87
Cincinnati
1,561,647,763
88
Salt Lake City
1,494,664,085
89
Shenzhen
1,481,979,405
90
Norfolk (VA)
1,449,794,767
91
Bristol
1,415,542,115
92
Harrisburg/Central PA
1,402,081,031
93
North Germany
1,399,308,371
94
Richmond
1,397,513,391
95
Nuremberg
1,338,397,094
96
Lisbon
1,335,517,899
97
Birmingham (AL)
1,310,448,584
98
Nagoya
1,267,165,708
99
Sheffield
1,258,621,347
100
Adelaide
1,249,017,444
Source: Real Capital Analytics
[caption id="attachment_799234" align="alignright" width="200"] London comes second in the list, to New York[/caption]
When it comes to the global cities attracting the most overseas investment from around the world, the top line is clear. Everyone wants to be in America. Or at least that is where they want their money. Three-quarters of the top 10 cities based on foreign investment flows in 2015 are American. New York tops the league having attracted a whopping $79.8bn, with Los Angeles and San Francisco coming in at three and four with investment hitting $35.8bn and $32bn respectively.
Washington DC, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta also appear in the top 10 alongside Paris, Tokyo and London, which follows New York in second position with an investment volume of $55.3bn.
“The US is a huge, huge investment market,” says Tom Leahy, director of market analysis at Real Capital Analytics, the research company behind the data. “Investors have been very active there. And have been for several years. We all know about New York. But Los Angeles is also a very big market. It has been in the top five of this league since 2011.”
But as to whether similar spending patterns and this focus on longstanding, popular cities will remain unchanged over the next few years, Leahy is unsure: “Last year I would have given a very straightforward answer as to which cities would be top of the league in 2015. And I would have pretty much listed the ones we can see in the top 10. But clearly we are entering a phase of instability and volatility in 2016.
“Markets exposed to oil prices are suffering and so the next 12 months is less easy to call. That could be seen as either a good or a bad thing. But the result will be that some markets will change. And remember that London did considerably better than New York in the last downturn. So it is really difficult to predict, even right up there at the top of the list.”
Rank
City/Metropolitan Area
Investment $bn
1
NYC Metropolitan Area
79,829,527,824
2
London Metropolitan Area
55,306,486,084
3
Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
35,804,775,674
4
San Francisco Metropolitan Area
32,078,956,754
5
Tokyo
31,828,447,246
6
Paris
26,306,812,939
7
Washington DC Metropolitan Area
22,525,441,298
8
Chicago
20,178,284,885
9
Dallas
17,272,017,500
10
Atlanta
15,641,982,764
11
Boston
15,460,981,603
12
Shanghai
14,495,201,944
13
South Florida
14,162,231,425
14
Seattle
13,046,161,717
15
Berlin-Brandenburg
12,153,558,975
16
Hong Kong
11,589,992,020
17
Sydney
10,963,948,093
18
Phoenix
10,750,257,216
19
Houston
10,311,743,953
20
Rhine-Ruhr
10,102,435,645
21
Melbourne
9,367,474,482
22
Denver
9,279,511,888
23
Frankfurt/Rhine-Main
8,941,964,184
24
Amsterdam/Randstad
8,633,949,426
25
San Diego
8,175,007,417
26
Toronto
7,261,699,041
27
Austin
7,244,705,864
28
Philadelphia Metropolitan Area
6,533,179,546
29
Orlando
6,521,391,655
30
Madrid
6,085,418,118
31
Munich
6,054,853,473
32
Stockholm
5,808,613,748
33
Osaka
5,503,418,761
34
Singapore
5,425,705,948
35
Milan
5,400,121,707
36
Baltimore
5,358,054,971
37
Portland
5,055,428,437
38
Hamburg
4,945,784,039
39
Beijing
4,791,477,152
40
Tampa
4,751,548,829
41
Raleigh/Durham
4,503,798,223
42
Brisbane
4,367,365,520
43
South Germany
4,346,516,925
44
Seoul
4,243,053,051
45
Hawaii
4,119,383,659
46
Manchester Metropolitan Area
3,982,007,647
47
Minneapolis
3,900,593,429
48
Charlotte
3,836,096,900
49
Dublin
3,707,729,982
50
Oslo
3,575,345,492
51
Stuttgart
3,512,941,408
52
Vienna
3,389,617,072
53
Birmingham
3,355,840,447
54
Copenhagen
3,280,804,815
55
Las Vegas
3,264,004,780
56
Saxon Triangle
3,203,142,876
57
Nashville
3,142,864,073
58
San Antonio
3,107,379,066
59
West Germany
3,103,654,757
60
Moscow
3,076,910,560
61
Vancouver
2,803,518,091
62
Central CA
2,759,677,541
63
Sacramento
2,515,157,182
64
Nanjing
2,512,526,635
65
Columbus
2,288,102,539
66
Barcelona
2,285,129,445
67
Detroit
2,221,639,891
68
Kansas City
2,160,912,934
69
Brussels
2,104,707,566
70
Indianapolis
2,098,508,201
71
Leeds
2,069,500,632
72
St Louis
2,000,320,181
73
SW Florida
1,985,315,557
74
Rome
1,955,677,883
75
Helsinki
1,909,275,704
76
Taipei
1,903,713,968
77
Montreal
1,885,184,721
78
Auckland
1,850,358,727
79
Prague
1,802,467,065
80
Glasgow
1,729,914,600
81
Hanover
1,728,808,316
82
Geneva
1,689,235,923
83
Jacksonville
1,616,985,691
84
Memphis
1,615,722,273
85
Reno
1,577,340,127
86
Newcastle
1,568,118,731
87
Cincinnati
1,561,647,763
88
Salt Lake City
1,494,664,085
89
Shenzhen
1,481,979,405
90
Norfolk (VA)
1,449,794,767
91
Bristol
1,415,542,115
92
Harrisburg/Central PA
1,402,081,031
93
North Germany
1,399,308,371
94
Richmond
1,397,513,391
95
Nuremberg
1,338,397,094
96
Lisbon
1,335,517,899
97
Birmingham (AL)
1,310,448,584
98
Nagoya
1,267,165,708
99
Sheffield
1,258,621,347
100
Adelaide
1,249,017,444
Source: Real Capital Analytics
