Norway, surprisingly, now ranks second among foreign U.S. commercial real estate buyers, topped only by Canada. The sovereign fund that manages the country’s substantial oil wealth made a play for Blackstone Group’s 1095 Sixth Avenue just last week, in a deal that is expected to fetch up to $2.25 billion. The move followed the Norges Bank Investment Management’s purchase of a 45 percent interest in 601 Lexington for $1.5 billion. In total, the country has spent over $3.2 billion on U.S. real estate so far this year, according to data from research firm Real Capital Analytics cited by Bloomberg News. The push comes as Norway looks to invest as much as 5 percent of its assets in real estate. “There’s an element of perceived safety in a hard asset in the United States, in New York City, that is harder to replicate in other alternatives, http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/09/24/norway-now-the-second-largest-buyer-of-u-s-commercial-real-estate/
Our oil fund is approaching one trillion dollars, so 5% of that is ~50 billion USD. They've already bought up substantial properties in London, Paris and other places in europe, so they're really trying to put eggs in as many baskets as possible.
Am reading this moments after my wife noted an article that depicts the absolute fit many Norwegians are in after the machinations of a Chinese billionaire, oft-cited as a front for his govenment, in purchasing large tracts in northernmost Norway and Svalbard.