Foreign real estate buyers are still flocking to the United States. However, they are heading to less luxurious markets. While they are present, they are buying less expensive homes.
“Weaker economic growth throughout the world, devalued foreign currencies and financial market turbulence combined to present significant challenges for foreign buyers over the past year,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), quoted by CNBC. “While these obstacles led to a cool down in sales from nonresident foreign buyers, the purchases by recent immigrant foreigners rose, resulting in the overall sales dollar volume still being the second highest since 2009.”
According to NAR’s report on international activity in the United States, foreigners spent $102.6 billion on real estate between April 2015 and March 2016. This was a slight decrease in dollar volume spent, but an increase in the number of properties.
Chinese buyers outpaced other foreign real estate buyers. They spent a high median of $542,084 on homes.
“The explosive growth of the Chinese economy created a very large number of very wealthy people. As that country’s economy has slowed down, those individuals are looking for better investment alternatives, and many have concluded that U.S. real estate is a smart bet,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president at Ten-X.
Five states accounted for more than half of sales to foreign real estate buyers. The top was our very own Florida. The Sunshine State snagged 22 percent of foreign buyer purchases. Most came from Latin America, Europe and Canada.
Real estate continues to be a great investment. This is exemplified by large numbers of foreign buyers, even if they are heading down a less luxurious path. The fact that so many spend in Florida also goes to show what a great state it is to invest and live in. Check out RE/MAX Paradise’s amazing Miami homes and contact an agent today!