CommercialFinanceTampa

FOREIGN INVESTORS IN COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE LOANS
Individuals and institutions from other nations were some of the original investors in the United States. Most of these investments were in the form of land, often large tracts syndicated for broad investment by European
and other foreign investors. British investors, in particular, have a long record of U.S. land investing. More recently, foreign investment has taken the form of both land and buildings, beginning with the OPEC oil embargo of 1973, which demonstrated the need to recycle accumulated funds into U.S. investments. This led to considerable investment by Arabs and Iranians in U.S. cities such as Atlanta, Houston, Salt Lake City, and throughout California. During this period, Canadian developers purchased extensive land holdings in California, Arizona, and Texas for often ill-fated development projects. Dutch investors were active in Atlanta, New York, Washington D.C., and other eastern U.S. cities. Australian development and investment companies initiated operations in the western states, particularly California. Individual investors from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Latin America bought properties in Florida, Texas, and California. Japanese investors, buoyed by a large trade surplus with the United States, increased their investments in the mid-1980s, primarily in trophy office buildings in major cities. European banks and pension funds also have invested large amounts of commercial real estate loans in projects throughout America with commercial lending, construction loans, bridge loans, and multifamily financing. During the last decade, German investors have been major investors through bank-sponsored investment funds freed to invest overseas through changes in German banking laws. Japan is still by far the largest holder of U.S. real estate assets, followed by Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia. The remainder of the investment commercial real estate loans is spread over other European countries, Latin America, Asia(except Japan), and Africa and the Middle East.