Photo courtesy of Anthony Quintano

Last week, the Adirondack Mountains in New York acquired their very own international investor, Jack Ma, who is a multi-billionaire and founder of the Alibaba Group. Ma purchased over 28 thousand acres for $23 million, in an effort to conserve the land. In early May of this year, Ma stepped down from his position as CEO of Alibaba and climbed right back up as Chairman of the Board for The Nature Conservancy in China. 

New York City’s real estate sector has been having a great spell over the past few months. Several high profile listings have come into the limelight this past year, with some garnering eyeballs for their astounding heights and others with their stupendous brands of luxury. Besides these, many new construction projects are also being developed, with these swanky new apartments being lapped up as soon as they enter the market. But what’s interesting about the buyers of these ultra deluxe homes is that many of them are not from New York, or even from America—foreign buyers are dominating Manhattan’s real estate scene today.

Watch out, Manhattan real estate: the British are coming. Currently faced with a wave of tax burdens in London, local property buyers are being provoked to take their business elsewhere. Back in March, the British government began cracking down on tax avoidance, focusing tax-collections on the city’s biggest buyers: foreign investors. According to a recent study, purchasers of London property priced over £2 million are paying twice as much in transaction taxes than those buying in New York. So from the Irish buying out Midtown to the French election prompting wealthier residents to relocate, many Europeans are finding New York City to be a safe haven for their investments, and the Brits are just the latest group geared to make an impression on our market.

Investors have always played a big part in the Manhattan real estate market. Which, given that Manhattan condominiums remain one of the premier real estate investments this side of the private island, makes plenty of sense. But while investors hoovering up NYC condominiums isn't news, the number of investors currently buying up Manhattan condos -- and the percentage of the Manhattan condo market that those investors currently represent -- is looking more and more like news. And in this moderately slow and still-recovering Manhattan condominium marketplace, investors are making a bigger impact than ever. Which is nice, but what impact will it have on those -- to take one example -- who are browsing Upper East Side condominium listings less to find an investment than in hopes of actually moving to the Upper East Side?