U.S. capital flows down from record 2018 levels

With the longest global economic expansion on record, international investors face an increasingly complex calculus in identifying cost-effective opportunities for potential downturn protection, slowing the pace of cross-border capital flows to and from the United States, according to CBRE.

Inbound capital to the United States in the first half of 2019 totaled $17 billion, a decrease of 48 percent from first half 2018. About half of this decline was due to less M&A activity after record levels in 2018. Cross-border investment volume of individual assets and portfolios (excluding entity-level) was down by 26 percent relative to first half 2018.

U.S. outflows to foreign regions also decreased in first half 2019, falling 18 percent year-over-year to $18.6 billion. Given the less-pronou