Posted by Leonard Steinberg on August 14th, 2013

It appears the European economy is rebounding: The German and French economies grew faster than the United States in the second quarter, pulling the Euro Zone out of its longest recession. Growth in the 17-country bloc was 0.3 percent from the previous quarter, with its two biggest economies both revealing unexpected strength, data from the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat showed on Wednesday. Many forecasts had predicted growth of around 0.2 percent.

Europe’s powerhouse Germany grew 0.7 percent, its largest expansion in more than a year attributable mostly to domestic private and public consumption. France’s economy expanded 0.5 percent, posting its strongest quarterly growth since early 2011. The turnaround was driven by consumer spending and industrial output, although investment dropped again.

That compared with around 0.4 percent growth in the quarter – 1.7 percent annualized – in the United States, considered one of the bright spots of the global recovery. We are always asked about the strength of the foreign buyer: this news certainly bodes well for the strength of the foreign European buyers who have always loved investing in New York real estate.