President Obama just signed a law relaxing the 1980 Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA)—which taxes foreign real estate investors.
Now foreign pensions will be able to snag up to 10% ownership of REITs before triggering FIRPTA taxes, up from 5% before.
Foreign investors didn't need more reasons to double down on their US real estate feeding frenzy; foreign investment has shot up to $78.4B from just $4.7B in 2009, Bloomberg reports.
The change, tucked into the $1.1T budget bill, is bound to open the floodgate even more.
Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate chief executive Jim Fetgatter says the change “is a huge deal” and will no doubt send more foreign cash stateside. [Bloomberg]
