A South American family has invested nearly $27 million in eight apartments to protect their money amidst the coronavirus, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

An unidentified Peruvian family bought units in the Waterline Square development that span a total of about 11,000 square feet.

They intend to rent them out after the crisis according to the family’s agent, Maria Velazquez, investing in the property now as they feared their finances may be impacted by the economic fallout of the pandemic.

Ms Velazquez told the newspaper they “felt their money was safer in an apartment in New York than in a bank,”

According to the report, they received a 7% discount for buying such a large amount of property at such an uncertain time in the housing market, going into contract and closing on the all-cash deal on the same day.

“Crises always bring opportunities for investors like this,” Ms Velazquez told The Journal.

She said the sale was an extremely fast turnaround for the New York market.

The buyers viewed the properties virtually by teleconference, after initially visiting the sales office in November, before they closed the deal, the report said.

In-person viewings are currently not permitted under New York’s social distancing measures.