Foreign Investors Rank U.S. No. 1 Commercial Market

The U.S. commercial real estate market is ranked the No. 1 choice for investment this year and viewed as the best opportunity for price appreciation, according to a survey of foreign investors by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE).

More than 60% of respondents indicated that the U.S. offers the best potential for capital appreciation. This number is a dramatic reversal from 2006 when it reached a lowest level of 23%. The next-ranked country, China, was 54 percentage points behind the U.S.

“As the fear of a double-dip recession has faded, investors are becoming more enthusiastic about the prospects for the U.S. economy and are taking aim at real estate investment opportunities in the U.S.,” said James Fetgatter, AFIRE chief executive.

The survey respondents represent more than US$627 billion in real estate globally, including US$265 billion in the United States, and 72% of them say they plan to invest more capital in the U.S. in 2011 than they did in 2010.

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Properties in stronger markets are attracting investor interest, while smaller properties in slower markets continue to display signs of distress. According to the AFIRE survey, investors overwhelmingly chose New York and Washington, D.C. as the two top global cities for their real estate investment dollars.

“Except for multi-family housing, [investors] are not scattering their interest throughout the U.S., but rather narrowly targeting it to New York City and Washington, D.C., to an even greater extent than before,” Fetgatter said.

For the full AFIRE survey report, visit http://www.afire.org/.