The Invasion of the Euros!

[Source: AP]

Euros here, there, everywhere! With the plunging US dollar, our fag-smoking Burberry clad neighbors across the Atlantic are lining up to buy a piece of the Big Apple. Brokers are humming about the "hot" market which normally goes into a lull during this time of year.

“The exchange rate is like a gift from God for Europeans,” said Danielle Grossenbacher, the broker for Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy who showed the Millers around. “Everybody is feeling they have an opportunity to purchase a piece of Manhattan.” [NY Times]

Wallstreet Bonuses are also down, which means that the cash influx that normally props up the market is missing, creating even more buying opportunities. In between shopping at FAO Schwartz, Abercrombie, and Gap Kids; Fabio and Sven's avarice for real property is bailing us out from a glut of condos and new developments.

Foreign buyers are helping shield Manhattan from the housing slowdown that has plagued the rest of the nation and are providing a ready market for thousands of newly built condominiums. [NY Times]

So, while owners are certainly happy, those of us who were hoping to buy into the market in a downturn, or get a little bit shaved off our already poverty-inducing rents, are out of luck.