Foreign Investors Still Investing in Austin Property

Despite the fact that the global real estate marketplace has been struggling over the past several months, the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) reports that Austin is still considered an attractive investment among foreign investors. 

According to the new report, Austin tied for the 11th place spot among foreign investors interested in investment opportunities within the United States.  This is actually up from the 2008 survey, at which time Austin ranked in the number 16 spot.

Austin was part of a 7-way tie this year, placing ranking in the 11th place position along with Phoenix, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Orlando, San Jose (California) and San Diego.  Washington D.C. came in the number one position, with New York coming in second, San Francisco coming in third, Los Angeles coming in fourth and Houston coming in fifth.

In addition to ranking the areas they considered to be the best investment, respondents were also asked to rank the type of property they were most interested in investing in.  Over the past two years, office investments had ranked in the number one position.  This year, however, the multifamily sector was the preferred type of property investment.  Office property took the second place position, with industrial taking third, retail taking fourth and hotel properties coming in last.  The current instability in employment likely attributed to the change in preferences. 

Although the United States economy has been struggling with the rest of the world’s economy, the investors still felt the U.S. provided the greatest capital appreciation opportunities.  Brazil came in second, followed by China, then the United Kingdom and then India.  According to AFIRE statistics, its members currently hold about $371 billion worth of real estate in the United States and collectively own $1 trillion in real estate around the world.