Which way is foreign investment going? (Sean Dreilinger, flickr)

Foreigners have been making the sad, broken housing market feel better for a little while now—taking her to the movies, telling her how great she looks, buoying her confidence after the fiasco of the housing market crash.

But now those foreign buyers may be going away, writes a Trulia economist in a Forbes column. It was just a fling, and the housing market knew that sooner or later they would  have to move on, that a healthy relationship would have to be forged with people who call the United States their primary residence. But still...

Forbes reports that foreign searches on Trulia fell by nearly 10 percent during the last year. Although all traffic is increasing on the home listing site, foreign searches make up a smaller percentage of those searches. The stronger the U.S. housing market gets, and the more prices rise, the less interested foreign buyers are,  according to Forbes.

"Cheap U.S. housing may look like a good investment from afar, but American real estate prices have stopped falling in the past year. After years of declines, asking prices rose nationally 0.3% year-over-year in June," reports Forbes.

Hey, sometimes we outgrow relationships.

Of course, as with so many economic reports, it's one data set against another, one economist's interpretation against the next. Why, just last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that foreign buyers were still totally in love with us.

"International buyers accounted for $82.5 billion, or 8.9%, of the $928 billion spent on residential real estate in the 12-month period that ended in March," The Journal wrote, citing figures the National Association of Realtors. "That was up 24% from $66.4 billion in the previous-year period."

Maybe foreign buyers just fell out of love with Trulia? There are, of course, an explanation that could reconcile these two views. Foreign buyers are basically interested in our real estate for one of two reasons—they want to take advantage of the relatively low prices following the crash, betting on the fact that real estate values will rise and their investments will pay off or they're really rich and want a place to keep their cash safe, especially those with political or financial uncertainties in their home countries. Ahem, Russians.

It would make sense that, as the market rebounds and housing prices rise, investment properties for the upper middle classes would lose some of their appeal. But the New York housing market—a good investment if an expensive one—does not look likely to suffer in any event. Unlike a Nevada exurb, she can always find a date.

kvelsey@observer.com

Straight to the top!

Aside from his many reported mistresses, Dmitry Rybolovlev has eyes for only one beauty: 15 Central Park West.

Multiple sources have told The Observer that for the past few years, as the Russian fertilizer tycoon has been on the hunt for a New York home, he has solely search in the limestone glory overlooking Columbus Circle. Like a besotted admirer, his gaze could not be wrested away from the Robert A. M. Stern-designed wonder, despite the best efforts of brokers.

"He’d been looking here sporadically for about two years," said a broker who has worked in the building.

Among the units Mr. Rybolovlev had looked at was that other record-setting penthouse, which William Lie Zeckendorf ultimately sold to a GPS mogul for $40 million. According to a broker with knowledge of that almost-deal, Mr. Rybolovlev looked at the Zeckendorf apartment but decided the 4,024-square-foot-square-foot space was too small for his liking.

Was the Russian  not interested in a building with deeper New York roots, say 740 Park or 834 Fifth? "No co-op would ever let him in the building," another broker said. Sadly, his 10-month jail stint on suspicion of murder might have precluded a visit with the stuffy boards.

One thing missing from the years of 15 CPW scouting? Ekaterina, Mr. Rybolovlev's daughter who is reportedly the one buying the penthouse for $88 million. "The daughter wasn't mentioned," said a broker who has been keeping tabs on Mr. Rybolovlev's real estate interests.

She did see the place before she "bought it," though. A source tells us she visited it a single time during the negotiations.

Other international high fliers have recently discussed buying property for themselves in the names of their young-adult children, explained a 15 CPW resident who recently put her apartment on the market.

"There's a billionaire that’s interested, and his daughter goes to N.Y.U," she said. "He was going to buy it for her, but he was also interested in being here a lot."