Hong Kong residents invest significant capital in US real estate markets.
- These investments are often linked to strategic diversification, economic stability, and immigration opportunities provided by programs like EB-5 (complicated and takes a very long time) and E-2 (quicker, less complicated and less expensive, but an interim immigration solution rather than a permanent, US green card solution). Prior to the virus lockdown, investments reflected a bias toward high-value office buildings in major metropolitan areas, most notably New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
- In the last two or three years, the focus shifted somewhat towards more diverse property types, including logistics and industrial properties. Despite the weakening of the office market generally, owing to increased levels of remote work, many US real estate observers see an opportunity-- ?for both stability and appreciation -- in small suburban office properties.? The tenants in those buildings tend to be smaller and more service oriented than tenants in larger, more centrally-located office properties.?
- Affecting all potential buyers is the rise in recent years in interest rates and a diminished willingness of mid-market lenders to issue new real estate loans.
Brokers and investors are welcome to contact me for help in connecting to a trusted, competent real estate broker for the US market or markets that interest them.
