Irish snap up 142 €1m apartments in New York

IRISH investors have snapped up all but 10 units in a 152-strong luxury apartment complex in the heart of New York city, each costing an average of €1.25 million.

Estate agent Keane Mahony Smith said its clients outgunned local property buyers to get their hands on the apartments in the plush Centria complex, which is located near the Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan. Some individuals splashed out up to €5 million on four units each.

The units range from 800 to 1,100 sq ft. The ground floor of the complex will contain a spa, while the second floor will house a conference centre, a club room, and lounge.

Keane Mahony Smith’s Cathal McGinley said that Irish demand for the Centria complex had exceeded his expectations, with the firm’s initial allocation of 50 units being sold in less than two weeks, forcing him to seek extra units from the developer. “The Irish buyers didn’t give the locals a chance,” he said.

He said Irish investors are drawn to the New York property market by better rental returns than are available at home, as well as perceptions of good value because the dollar has been weak against the euro for the past two years. America was also seen as psychologically close to Ireland by some investors, with similar legal and tax environments as well as the absence of a language barrier.

Mr McGinley said New York property prices were rising by around 20% per year and that investors that already owned property in Ireland and Britain were spreading their risk by heading across the Atlantic. Soaring property prices in Ireland and Britain over the past 10 years have reduced the attractiveness of property here, as investors begin to factor-in expectations of a slowdown in the market that will limit returns.

The firm has already sold around 200 units in a development on West 42nd Street and has plans to offload a further 140 apartments in New York until the end of the year.

The firm is also involved in a deal with the Fitzpatrick hotel group to source private investors for a hotel development in Chicago.

Mr McGinley said the New York market was especially attractive because only around 4,000 units are built every year, but the total number of new units built in Ireland last year came close to 80,000.