【英语国际】全球房地产热点城市盘点：纽约

Last month, Russian composer Igor Krutoy -- who has recorded more than 100 songs in Russia and collaborated with many of the country's music stars -- made headlines when he and his wife, Olga, purchased a 6,000-square-foot 12th floor condo at the Plaza for $48 million. It was one of the highest prices ever paid for a condo in New York.

According to Jonathan Miller, CEO of appraisal and consulting firm Miller Samuel, foreign buyers make up 15% to 20% of all home sales in Manhattan. They're particularly strong buyers of thoroughly renovated or newly built condos priced at several million dollars or more. Pamela Liebman, president and CEO of New York-based brokerage Corcoran Group, says that in the first quarter of this year, nearly 20% of new condo sales at Corcoran went to foreign buyers. One deal under way includes a group of Asian investors who are buying 13 apartments in a building, each priced between $1.5 million and $2.5 million.

Manhattan has long one of the most popular markets in the world for international buyers. But the makeup of international buyers has shifted. Gone are the investors from Ireland who were snapping up condos amid the economic boom in their homeland, says Mr. Miller. Today, it's buyers from China and Brazil. In the past 18 months, brokers say Russians -- known during the boom years for making large real-estate purchases in opulent trophy buildings -- have returned after sitting on the sidelines during the recession.

International buyers tend to gravitate to certain buildings. Luigi Rosabianca, a real-estate lawyer who works with international buyers, says the Andre Balasz-designed William Beaver House in the Financial District is popular with his Latin American clients. 'Certain people are attracted to certain energy and aesthetics,' he says. At the Sheffield, a 582-unit condo building at Columbus Circle where 28% of sold units have gone to overseas buyers, sales staff now print marketing materials in Mandarin, French, Spanish and Italian.

At midtown's Setai Fifth Avenue Residences, where apartments are priced from $1.2 million to $15 million, about half of the buyers have been from overseas. Giuseppe Rossi, the executive vice president of Bizzi & Partners Development, who is originally from Italy, notes that many Italians have purchased apartments there. 'We're Italian developers so there's a certain appeal to Italian products and the way we built,' he says. Brazilian buyers have also made several purchases there, including Brazilian soccer star Kaka, who recently bought three apartments in the building which he plans to combine, says Mr. Rossi. (Kaka didn't respond to requests for comment.)

Giorgio Castro, a 62-year-old Rome-based entrepreneur, says he dreamed of owning a place in Manhattan for decades. Last year, with the euro-dollar exchange rate giving him more than a 40% discount, he finally snagged a $1.3 million one-bedroom condo in a Wall Street building designed by David Rockwell.

'It was a good opportunity to buy something I longed for,' says Mr. Castro. 'With the money I spent, I could not have bought something equivalent in Rome.'

上个月，俄罗斯作曲家伊戈尔·克鲁托伊(Igor Krutoy)上了各大报纸的头条，因为他和妻子奥尔加（Olga）以4,800万美元的价格买下了纽约Plaza第12层面积达6,000平方英尺（约合558平方米）的公寓。这是迄今为止纽约一套公寓卖出的最高价格之一。克鲁托伊在俄罗斯录制了一百多首歌曲，并和俄罗斯许多音乐界明星有过合作。

据房产评估和咨询公司Miller Samuel的首席执行长米勒（Jonathan Miller）介绍，曼哈顿地区销售的全部房屋中，15%至20%被外国买家买走。他们尤其喜欢购买经过彻底翻新或刚刚建成的总价在好几百万美元以上的公寓。总部在纽约的房产经纪公司Corcoran Group的总裁兼CEO利伯曼（Pamela Liebman）说，今年一季度，Corcoran Group卖出的新公寓中，近20%的买主是外国买家。正在进行的交易包括打算购买一幢住宅楼中13套公寓的一众亚洲投资者，每一套公寓的价格在150万美元至250万美元之间。


Evan Joseph纽约市中心第五大街的Setai公寓对于国际买家来说，曼哈顿一直是全球最受欢迎的房产市场之一。但国际买家的构成已经发生了变化。米勒说，爱尔兰经济繁荣时期来此抢购公寓的爱尔兰投资者早已不见了踪影。今天，中国和巴西买家是主流。房产经纪人说，过去18个月里，经济衰退时在一旁观望的俄罗斯投资者如今又重回市场。这些俄罗斯人因在经济繁荣时期买入大批豪宅而出名。

国际买家常常会被某种类型的建筑所吸引。曾服务过多名国际买家的房产律师罗沙比安卡（Luigi Rosabianca）说他的拉美客户非常喜欢Andre Balasz设计的位于金融区的William Beaver House。罗沙比安卡说，某一类客户往往会被一种特定的审美理念和建筑活力所吸引。谢菲尔德（Sheffield）是位于哥伦布环路（Columbus Circle）上的一幢有582套公寓的住宅楼，在已售出的公寓中，28%的买主是海外买家。销售人员现在会印制中文、法文、西班牙文和意大利文的售楼材料。

在纽约市中心第五大街的Setai公寓，大约半数买家来自海外。这里的公寓标价从120万美元至1,500万美元不等。地产开发商Bizzi & Partners Development的执行副总裁罗西（Giuseppe Rossi）说，许多意大利人在Setai买房。罗西是意大利人，他说我们是意大利开发商，所以我们比较倾心意大利产品和意式建筑风格。据罗西介绍，巴西买家也在Setai买了好几套房，其中包括巴西球星卡卡。他最近刚在Setai买下三套公寓，准备打通合并成一个大套公寓（卡卡没有回应记者的置评请求）。

常驻罗马的62岁企业家卡斯特罗（Giorgio Castro）说，几十年来他一直梦想能在曼哈顿拥有一套公寓。去年，欧元兑美元大幅升值让他享受了超过40%的购房折扣。最终他花130万美元买下了华尔街上一幢由大卫·洛克威尔（David Rockwell）设计的住宅楼中的一居室公寓。

卡斯特罗说，这是我买下梦寐以求的房子的绝佳时机。在罗马，花同样的钱，不可能买到这样的房子。（下篇热点城市介绍：巴黎，敬请期待。）