Lessons from FIFA's Playbook | Unlocking Tomorrow's foreign buyers
July 30, 2026
Hello,
The recent remarkable FIFA match delivered some impressive advertising and marketing, such as the mandatory
stadium brand covers that turned into witty campaigns (Gillette, Levi's). More remarkable was the premeditated
effort behind them, planned years in advance of this event and others like it. There was one real estate company
(Onyx Equities and its affiliate Vermella Luxury Residential Brands) that stood among the Nike and Coca-Cola’s
participants.
Our field works the same way: we envision a project years in advance, then brand it a year or two before it
comes to market, and we often try to hook that branding to a major event. Often the event we attempt to foresee
would be the origin of the next wave of foreign buyers.
Foreign buyers grab the headlines, yet they're a small slice of the buyer pool — except in a handful of
Midtown-heavy projects. Even so, a modest share (15-20%) can lift a project.
Slowdown in Foreign buyers:
The past spring showed real fatigue in the Chinese market, which was the dominant force in NYC for over a
decade. This slowdown was driven mainly by visa restrictions and capital controls.
The pied-à-terre tax didn't help either. But the underlying motive — diversification, safe haven, and housing
for children studying in NYC (the city with the most universities in the US) — hasn't gone anywhere. Although
the tax is too new for hard, empirical data, we're already seeing hesitance on one side and creativity on the
other: investors renting to a primary occupant will be exempt.
So — where does the next wave come from? On a micro level, when we measure the sources of traffic and purchases
in our projects around town (about a few thousand a year), here’s what we see:
- UK / Germany — back in the mix, riding a strong euro and pound.
- China — with their vast numbers, drawn to American assets and education, adaptable with creative capital routes, will remain major part of the pool.
- India — capital mobility and diaspora wealth are chasing dollar-denominated assets in growing numbers. My sense tells me India will top the chart in the coming years.
This segmentation can be further zoomed in depending on location, character and timing of the project.
So, the next time you're shaping a project, ask: who's my non-American 20%?
