NEW YORK – New Yorkers might have a tough time finding an affordable place to live in the Big Apple, but foreign investors paying in euros or pounds are snatching up some of the city’s ritziest real estate at what they consider bargain prices.
It’s all thanks to a favorable exchange rate caused by a weak dollar. At a Donald Trump (search) condo project, for instance, where one-bedroom apartments have a $1 million price tag, paying in foreign currency means a 35-percent discount.
Laughing all the way to the bank are real estate brokers, who say foreign purchasing power hasn’t been this great since Dutch traders paid the equivalent of $24 for all of Manhattan, as legend has it.
And, like in the late 1980s when Japanese investors bought Rockefeller Center (search), there is also a foreign investment boom in the city’s commercial real estate.
Broker Azita Aghravi admits that overseas interest is driving up prices.
“On the last two packages we put out, the foreigners outbid everybody else by 15 to 20 percent,” he said.
No matter what the currency, some experts say the best deals can still be found in places like Brooklyn (search) and Queens (search), just outside of Manhattan.
Click in the box near the top of the story to watch a report by FOX News' David Lee Miller.
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