China's Xinyuan aims lower amid Manhattan's glut in high-end homes

New York

CHINESE developer Xinyuan Real Estate Co is forging ahead with plans for a condominium property on Manhattan's far west side, even as the company's New York-based executive vice-president sees signs of a glut in the luxury-home market.

Xinyuan is distancing itself from the plethora of skyscrapers aimed at ultra-wealthy investors by designing its first project in Manhattan to appeal to dual-income families and other upper-middle-class buyers, both American and Chinese, according to John Liang. Apartments will sell for as much as US$2,000 a square foot, he said. That's less than the US$2,775 average for new-development listings in the borough in 2015, according to a report by Halstead Property Development Marketing.