Microtrend alert: a niche category within the foreign buyers' market in Manhattan is apparently "wealthy Chinese parents purchasing apartments for college-bound children." DNAinfo talked to brokers from Stribling, Halsted, Rutenberg, and a Michigan-based real estate development firm called Windham China (convenient!), who all report an uptick in such purchases. Stribling's fall market report showed that foreign buyers comprise around 30% of new condo purchases, "with Chinese buyers tending to spend roughly $1.5 million on apartments near their kids' colleges."
And what buildings are of especial interest? Anything tall, glassy, contemporary, and with a southern exposure, with an added bonus for a building possessing lucky numerology. (Harlem's 88 Morningside fits the bill, as does app-friendly 2130 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. and Gramercy's robot-friendly 148 East 24th Street, where five Chinese families with children enrolled at area universities have reportedly bought.) On the flipside of sleek and glassy is classic New York: Stribling has sold four one-bedrooms to Chinese buyers with children at NYU in our favorite downtown power building Devonshire House. One more fun fact: the Upper East Side in Chinese parlance is "Shang Dong."
· Chinese Buyers Flood Real Estate Market in Search of Kids' College Housing [DNAinfo]
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