In a world where global markets are slowing, stabilising and rebalancing, exclusive research by Cushman & Wakefield reveals that, sector by sector, US cities dominate when it comes to attracting foreign capital
New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas. It is pretty clear where overseas investors are looking to splash their cash. Asia Pacific may still be the king of the global property markets in terms of large development sites, but when it comes to investment in individual sectors, the US leads the way.
Cushman & Wakefield’s breakdown of the top 10 global cities for real estate investment by sector (see tables below) are almost universally dominated by the US.
Having said that, London still tops the offices league. But the UK capital cannot afford to rest on its laurels. New York was not far behind London’s $36bn (£23.4bn) for the period between Q3 2014 and Q2 2015 with a figure of $31bn, but the Big Apple has also seen considerably more growth. London is up by just 1.3% on the same period last year, compared with New York’s 25% increase.
And the strong performance from US cities doesn’t stop there, with San Francisco coming in fourth with a 39% uplift in office investment, Boston in sixth with a 50% increase and Chicago in seventh with a 60% rise in investment.
And that’s just one sector. The US also dominates in the hotel stakes and takes gold and silver when it comes to retail investment. New York’s $13bn – double last year’s figure – puts it ahead of the competition by quite some way. Los Angeles comes second with a 43.8% uplift on last year to $7.8bn.
The top four cities for industrial investment are also all in the US. And if you add in Dallas, Atlanta and Miami, all of which make an appearance further down the top 10 list, then a massive $27.7bn of the total $35.6bn investment into the sector was channelled into the US.
The American dream is clearly alive and kicking. But for how long?
