Luxury real estate continues to appeal, especially in the United States. In its latest report, BARNES shows that Miami, New York and even Austin are among the destinations popular with investors. “Despite the current instability of the economy and the return of inflation, luxury real estate undoubtedly remains an investment option,” explains Yann Rousseau, Managing Partner at BARNES New York, Westchester and Connecticut.
On February 8, the annual conference presenting the Global Property Handbook 2024 de BARNES. The international leader in luxury real estate welcomed its President, Thibault de Saint Vincent, to New York for this exceptional opportunity which provided an opportunity to take stock of current trends in luxury real estate and to specify the most popular destinations. demanded by investors. While Dubai remains the preferred destination, three American cities appear in the top 10, including Miami in 2nd place, New York in 3rd and Austin in 7th.
The excellent ranking of New York therefore encouraged Philippe Andres, our correspondent on site to interview Yann Rousseau, Managing Partner of BARNES New York in his offices on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, to ask him about current trends in the area of New York, Westchester and Connecticut for which he is responsible.
Who were the participants who came in large numbers to attend this presentation of the 2024 Handbook?
We had the pleasure of welcoming to the new Café Boulud, within Maison BARNES on the Upper East Side, a very diverse audience made up of journalists, real estate agents, clients, and partners: bankers, family offices , lawyers, architects, and others interested in current developments in the luxury real estate market.
What general trend do you see in the global luxury real estate market?
As detailed in our 2024 report, despite the current instability of the economy and the return of inflation, luxury real estate undoubtedly remains an investment remedy against uncertainty. Current investors want to diversify their acquisitions both in terms of type of properties and their location in the world.
Thibault de Saint Vincent, president of BARNES international
So which places are most popular at the moment and for what types of properties?
This year, for the first time, a city in the Middle East takes the lead in our BARNES City Index 2024: Dubai. Then come Miami, New York, Madrid and Paris.
The market is in full recovery
What about the American market and more specifically the New York and Connecticut area?
Concerning the New York area, the market is in full recovery, after a clear slowdown during the second half of 2023, in particular due to the increase in interest rates. The New York market has the particularity of resisting all crises and remaining very international, so even though the volume of activity fell sharply at the end of last year, prices have generally stabilized and should start to rise again, as does activity, as the market regains strength in the spring, as is seasonal custom. The attractive discounts granted to buyers at the end of 2023 will fade in the coming weeks.
The annual conference to present the BARNES Global Property Handbook 2024
Specifically, in the New York and Connecticut area, what is the nature of the market that you handle at BARNES?
We are mainly focused on a niche market, that is to say essentially internationally oriented, with the strength of the dozen languages that our agents speak. Our clientele is mainly made up of foreign investors and members of the diaspora (locally or internationally), often French-speaking or from European countries, but not only…
We’ve talked about the nature of the market, now let’s talk about your customers. Who are they precisely?
We mainly have three types of customers:
- Expatriate families who are interested, in addition to the convenience of the place to live, in their distance from New York City, and proximity to French schools. This is why, for example, Westchester County is very attractive, because it is very pleasant to live in and hosts the FASNY campus.
- Customers who want to buy a pied-à-terre in New York City for their personal needs will favor chic and trendy neighborhoods, such as SoHo, TriBeCa, West Village, or the Upper East Side.
- Rental investors, concerned with immediate profitability and long-term appreciation, focus on new programs or independent “multifamily” apartment buildings in neighborhoods with high or emerging rental demand, mainly in Manhattan, in the western part of Brooklyn (Greenpoint, Williamsburg, DUMBO, Carroll Gardens, etc.) or Queens (Long Island City, Astoria).
What is the average budget that your clients devote to their investments?
Talking about average budget does not necessarily make sense because our clientele is very diverse in terms of investment wishes. However, I can specify a few ranges. For expatriate families looking for a house we are on budgets of 2 to 4 million dollars. For those who want a pied-à-terre in New York City, the price starts at $2 million, but it can go up to $5 million in some places such as SoHo. Finally for rental investors, some clients are on investments in a range of 1 to 3 million dollars and others on a much higher range of 5 to 10 million dollars, or even beyond.
BARNES is truly an international operator
What is BARNES’ main competitive advantage?
First of all, BARNES is truly an international operator unlike many of our competitors. A client of ours can invest in New York, Miami, but also in Dubai, Paris, Saint-Barth or Madrid, while remaining in the network.
Then, we provide our customers with a complete turnkey service. We not only help them with all aspects of buying and selling but also with rentals and property management.
We work with complete trust with our clients. Latest example to date, one of our clients, based in Eastern Europe, has just asked us to take over management of all of her real estate assets around the world (Paris, Miami, New York) currently entrusted to several managers, because she thinks that BARNES is best able to support her and she wishes to keep only one contact to do this. The loyalty of our customers, and we already have third generation customers, is our best advertising.
2024-02-21 17:07:29
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