It intuitively feels right that cross-border investment into real estate must have dropped during the coronavirus pandemic. No one could get on a plane to travel, making it less likely investors would buy a unique asset like a piece of commercial real estate halfway around the world sight unseen. Now, with vaccination rates on the rise in the U.S., the UK and Europe, it stands to reason real estate should see a fresh surge of cross-border investment, driving those volumes higher. Right? Well, yes and no. Reality is rarely that black and white, and the truth is cross-border investment never really went away during the pandemic. Global investors simply did what everyone did, hunkering down until the world seemed less chaotic. That said, easing travel bans will make it easier for international investors, who as a group want to put more into commercial real estate than ever before. And strange as it might seem, 2021, a year that started with the world still unable to access huge swathes of the real estate sector, could come close to a record year for investment. 
“Capital can move across borders even if people can’t,” Real Capital Analytics Senior Vice President Jim Costello said. The firm’s data highlights that any perceived demise in cross-border real estate capital was greatly exaggerated. As of Q1 2020, prior to the pandemic, cross-border investment into…  Read the full story here. | 
