Russians eye New York real estate

Editor's note: This item is republished with permission from Global Edge Marketing Ltd. The original post can be viewed here.

Russian property buyers and real estate funds are returning to the New York real estate market reports The Moscow Times.

Although New York City's real estate prices may fall in the short term, analysts say Russian buyers view the city's property as a long-term and low-risk investment with a promise of U.S. dollar earnings. Russians are notoriously wary of putting their money in domestic banks since the 1998 banking crisis resulted in huge losses for investors.

The trend is no doubt influenced by high-profile Russians investing in the city. The country's richest man, Mikhail Prokhorov, is among those leading the way after reaching a $200 million deal to buy an 80 percent share in the New Jersey Nets basketball team.

The National Association of Realtors reported that U.S. Realtors saw fewer foreign buyers in the 12 months to May 2009, but the recent anecdotal evidence from Florida suggests the future trend maybe upwards.

Irina Levieva, a broker at the Ostrov Realty Group, said a year ago "foreign buyers had disappeared" but now they are expressing interest and buying properties again. ...CONTINUED

All rights reserved. This content may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this content without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.