The Irish Invasion of the New York Condos Market
The market for New York City condos is being taken over by the Irish, especially in Midtown Manhattan. Even preconstruction New York condos are being bought up by Irish investors long before they finish completion, often without the buyer even visiting the location of the new condos. It is the economic boom in Ireland, inciting many people to nickname the country “the Celtic Tiger,” that has led to the increase in the sale of New York City condos from across the sea.
In some cases Manhattan condominium sellers are traveling to Ireland to do business with investors, with fancy booklets detailing the new condos and all their amenities. After taking deposits from the investors in cities like Dublin and Belfast, sellers sign contracts giving ownership of the New York City condos over to the investors. The new condos in Manhattan are selling for no less than half a million dollars, and sometimes well into the millions for the larger units.
One Irish investor in new condos in Manhattan is Neil McCann, a businessman out of Belfast. McCann recently signed a contract to purchase a one-bedroom condominium in the Gramercy Park area for the discounted price of $600,000. “It's an Irishman's dream to be able to go to Manhattan and be able to buy property there,” said McCann, 36. He hopes to buy more New York condos because the U.S. dollar is weak at the moment, so the new condos are relatively cheap compared to real estate in Ireland and throughout the United Kingdom.
The move of money from Ireland to New York City condos “seems to be another example of how, in the wake of the Celtic Tiger, the relationship between Ireland and the United States has flipped,” said Linda Dowling Almeida, an Irish studies teacher at New York University.
Real estate brokers are even seeing Irish investors buying several New York condos at a time, and some brokers are now specializing in Irish condominium sales. People from all over the world, however, have been contributing to the sustained demand for New York City condos for quite some time. Developers and brokers say the Irish seem to be the most insatiable foreign condominiums buyers are the moment, though. Their purchases have drawn less attention than previous condominium buying sprees by the Japanese and the Saudis, who made splashes by acquiring some of the most prestigious New York City condos.
“Because of the weak dollar, we're seeing a lot of European buyers, and it just seems like there's a disproportionate amount from Ireland,” said Jonathan J. Miller, president of the real estate consulting company Miller Samuel.
The most obvious reason for the flood of Irish investors to New York City condos is simply mathematical. The U.S. dollar is at historically low levels compared to the euro and the British pound, so new condos often cost less in Manhattan than in Dublin or London. The typical rent that owners charge on New York condos is more than in Dublin or London, though. When it comes down to it, the Irish interest in the Manhattan condominium market is simply smart money.
