New Jersey, California residents snap up NYC real estate as international demand slides
- More non-New Yorkers purchased properties in NYC in the first half of 2024 than a decade ago
- Foreign buyers closed on deals worth $61 million this year, compared to $367 million in 2014
New Jersey natives bought the most property in NYC compared to residents of other U.S. states in the first half of 2024, according to PropertyShark.
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Non-New Yorkers are diving into New York City’s real estate market—and most are from just across the Hudson River.
Buyers who live outside of NYC purchased 23 percent of all properties in the city in the first half of the year, with New Jersey residents closing the most deals, according to a report from PropertyShark. That’s an increase from the same period a decade ago, when non-New Yorkers purchased 19 percent of the city’s residential real estate.
At the same time, foreign buyers pulled away from the NYC market, spending $61 million on residential properties in the five boroughs during the first half of the year, compared to a whopping $367 million during the first half of 2014.
“That was one of the things that surprised us—how low those figures are now,” said Eliza Theiss, senior writer for PropertyShark.
Foreign buyers step back
A decade ago, international buyers closed on one in every 10 residential sales in NYC. In the first half of 2024, they closed on just one in 50, according to PropertyShark.
“The number of foreign buyers dropped pretty low with the pandemic and then it just didn’t really come back,” Theiss said.
Those numbers have slipped as a result of geopolitical conflicts around the world, Theiss added. She pointed to a slowdown in investment from Russian buyers as a result of U.S. sanctions stemming from the war with Ukraine.
Buyers from New Jersey, California, and Floridians jump in
Buyers from New Jersey, California, and Florida lead the pack of out-of-state purchasers. New Jersey residents bought the most property in NYC compared to residents of other U.S. states, but represented only 19 percent of out-of-state buyers, down from 27.6 percent in the same period in 2014.
Meanwhile, the share of Californians purchasing property in NYC grew, from 10 percent of all out-of-state buyers to 13.4 percent, while Floridians represented 12 percent of out-of-state purchasers in the first half of 2024, according to the report.
Florida residents have a penchant for luxury, spending $141 million on properties priced above $3 million. That’s nearly half of what Floridians spent on all NYC residential property—luxury or not—in the first half of 2024.
