WASHINGTON, DC–London has become the top city in which foreign investors want to invest, according to the locally-based Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE)'s annual survey.

The city has nudged New York from its previous place as the No. 1 global city for real estate investments. Furthermore the survey revealed that New York City is no longer the only No. 1 city in the US that appeals to foreign investors; that title is now shared with Los Angeles, which tied with New York in this latest survey.

Up until this year New York had been named the top US city for the last seven years, holding a substantial lead over Los Angeles. As recently as 2014 Los Angeles was in fifth place among US cities. It only moved into second place in 2016.

As for London, in last year's survey it ranked third globally while Los Angeles ranked fourth globally.

The remaining top five US cities, in order, are: Seattle, Washington, DC and San Francisco. Seattle moved up from fourth place and Washington rejoined the list after falling off into sixth place last year.

“Los Angeles Scores Went Way Up”

According to AFIRE CEO Jim Fetgatter London got the top spot for global cities because votes that ordinarily would have gone to New York went to Los Angeles instead — a trend that could also be seen with both cities named the top US market for foreign investors.

Los Angeles' rise through the survey's ranks is something of a surprise, at least based on previous survey rankings. “Los Angeles has always been a city of interest to foreign investors but it has usually played second fiddle to San Francisco,” Fetgatter says.

“But not this year,” he tells GlobeSt.com.

Fetgatter speculates that foreign investors' increased interest in Los Angeles is part of the overall love affair investors are having with all things industrial and distribution right now. “The Port of Los Angeles is a very important destination for Asian imports and exports,” he says.

Also, “downtown LA has been revitalized and is more attractive to foreign investors now.” In short, he says, this isn't a story about the declining appeal of New York to foreign investors – rather it's a story about Los Angeles' growing attractiveness to this group.

A final note about London, he says, is that Brexit is no longer as much of a concern to foreign investors.

US Remains Most Stable, Best Opportunity

Despite London's top spot, the US was deemed the number one country for planned real estate investment in 2018 by a substantial margin, followed by the UK, Germany, Canada, and France. Survey respondents pointed to several strengths of the US market including its strong, stable economy, transparent capital markets, and reputation for innovation.

With 58% of respondents' votes, the US remains the country considered the most stable for real estate investment — and 86% said they plan to maintain or increase their investment in US real estate in 2018. Germany again took second place with 20% of the votes, and Canada remained in third place with 12%. The UK moved into fourth from fifth, while Australia fell from fourth to fifth.

The survey also noted that, for the first time since the question was first asked, two German cities were included among the top five global cities: Berlin in third place, falling from second last year, and Frankfurt, making this list for the first
time.

Brazil regained its foothold as the number one emerging market, moving up from third place to replace China, which fell to second place. India moved into third place from fourth, Mexico fell from second place to a tie for third with India, and Colombia entered the list of top five emerging markets in fifth place.

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New York, Los Angeles Both Rated Top US Cities For CRE Foreign Investment

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