NAR releases 2021 Commercial Real Estate International Business Trends Report

On  March 31 the 2021 Commercial Real Estate International Business Trends report from NAR was released. It discusses the trends in foreign buyer purchases of U.S. commercial real estate in 2020 in the “small commercial real estate market” (sales of below $2.5 million) and in the “large commercial real estate market” (sales of $2.5 million or over).

Here are some takeaways to note:

• China remains the top foreign buyer of commercial real estate with 14% of the market share among NAR members.
• Canada remained as the top investor in US Commercial real estate in the large commercial market, while Manhattan continued to attract the most capital.
• Purchases by resident-foreign buyers of US Commercial real estate among NAR members rose from 48% to 56% of the market share in 2020.
• While capital inflows decreased, the US became a global investment haven in 2020 with a net investment of $13.5 billion in 2020, compared to a net divestment of -$10.9 billion in 2019.
• Secondary/tertiary markets such as Inland Empire, Sacramento, San Diego, East Bay and Indianapolis have emerged in investor’s commercial portfolios and have places those metros in the top 25 largest commercial destinations in 2020