Blackstone was the top cross-border buyer during the COVID era, according to new data from Real Capital Analytics.
While Blackstone purchased roughly $18 billion in assets from Q2 2020 to Q1 2021, it bought very little in North America. But it was very active in Europe and Asia, according to RCA. Landing second on the list, GIC bought more than $8 billion. While it made sizable acquisitions in all four regions (North America, Europe, Asia and the Pacific), it was most active in Asia.
AXA Group, the No. 3 investor on the list, with around $7 billion in purchases, was also active in all four regions. Still, its purchases were most concentrated in Europe, according to RCA. Landing fourth on the list with more than $6 billion in investments, Allianz made the bulk of its purchases in Europe and the Pacific, though it did have some transactions in Asia and North America. Brookfield AM was fifth on the list with around $4 billion in investments. It concentrated mainly on North America and Asia.
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Rounding out the top ten were buyers with less than $4 billion in sales, including AEW, Heimstaden, DekaBank, DWS Group, and NNPS. Europe was the leading target for AEW (with some Asian investments), Heimstaden (exclusively Europe), DekaBank and DWS Group. NPS focused mainly on North America, with some purchases in Asia, according to RCA.
As things open up with widespread vaccinations, foreign investors' allocations may change. For instance, in AFIRE's, the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate 2021 survey, the percentage of investors expecting to put more money into US CRE was much larger than for Europe (17%), Asia-Pacific (9%), the UK (7%), Canada (5%), or Australia and New Zealand (3%).
When foreign investors did place their money in the US in 2020, their allocations veered off historic norms.
Manhattan usually tops the list, but Seattle (with an 11% YOY decline) took the top spot in the 12 months through Q1 2021, after moving up from the No. 2 spot last year. Manhattan (-79%) has slipped to the second position after occupying the top slot in 2020. San Francisco (-28%) remained in the third spot. Chicago (+28%), which was No. 6 last year, moved into the fourth spot. Dallas (-46%) dropped from No. 4 to No. 5.
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Leslie Shaver
Les Shaver has been covering commercial and residential real estate for almost 20 years. His work has appeared in Multifamily Executive, Builder, units, Arlington Magazine in addition to GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum.
