"Armed with oil profits, two Middle Eastern buyers recently snapped up New York's Chrysler Building and General Motors Building for an estimated $3.7 billion. But their acquisitions of the two trophy offices belies their waning interest in U.S. commercial real estate this year as the U.S. economy stumbles and property prices dip."
But Middle East investment is expected to be flat or down this year compared to 2007. RCA data shows that more than half way through the year, Mideast investors have shelled out $2.7 billion for U.S. assets. But at that pace, this year's total sales will likely fall far below last year's $8.2 billion in deals.