NEW YORK CITY—I recently had the pleasure of attending the MIPIM International Real Estate Conference in Cannes, France.  Over 20,000 professionals were in attendance, most hailing from Europe with Asian investors in a not so distant second.

Largely absent were the Americans. Besides the National Association of Realtors, the U.S. had a small presence. Only international investors such as Thor exhibited. 

Meanwhile, countries and cities had huge displays promoting their real estate and infrastructure projects. Istanbul hosted the opening party, which drew thousands. Holland, Paris and London had large tents along the Riviera.

I could not find one U.S. city presenting. They should be. There is competition from other cities around the world. With the Euro now approaching par with the dollar, European investments are beginning to look very favorable.

In speaking with Cushman & Wakefield’s European managing directors, they have seen many U.S. opportunistic buyers searching for yield in their countries.  It seemed like only the Scandinavian countries, where real estate seems to trade amongst themselves, was not seeing U.S. interest. 

What is most surprising is core returns seem uniform around the world in developed countries.  For example, a stabilized asset in Brussels or China will bring a mid-5 cap. German cap rates dip into the 4s as buyers can obtain debt for 10 years at only 1.5%.

The U.S. must understand that we do compete in a global market. For years, we have portrayed ourselves as the safety deposit box of the world, but we must continue to present ourselves as welcoming.  The FIRPTA tax remains a large impediment, causing many foreign buyers to buy minority stakes in U.S. properties. 

At the conference, most buyers I spoke with said they have heard there is nothing to buy in New York City. They were shocked to learn that over 5,000 properties traded in 2014. I also tried to convey to most buyers who were looking for $50 million plus ticket prices to consider smaller price points, as there are over 20x the amount of sales in this range.

Although we may believe that global capital flows only one way to the U.S., we must continue to promote our value proposition, as it is apparent that U.S. and global capital is also finding homes elsewhere.