Jennifer Shetler

    This article appeared in the most recent NAR Newsletter... for    July 2014

Favorable exchange rates, affordable home prices and rising affluence abroad continue to drive international buyers to the U.S. to purchase homes investment properties.

We live in a global marketplace. While all real estate is local, not all property buyers are. A significant share of home purchases are made by people whose primary residence is outside of the U.S. Find out which are the top five countries of origin for foreign buyers of U.S. homes, and how these buyers are using the services of REALTORS®. This year's Profile examines purchases of real estate in the United States by international clients for the twelve-month period ending in March 2014.

Highlights

• $92.2 Billion of purchases sold to foreign buyers, 12 months ending March 2014
• Sales split approximately 50/50 between resident and non-resident foreigners.
• Foreign sales approximately 7 percent of $1.2 Trillion EHS market.
• 28 percent of REALTORS® reported having international clients. Market is a niche market—a relatively few REALTORS® handle many of transactions: e.g., 4% of REALTORS® have 11 or more clients
• Market fluctuates from year to year substantially; long term market trend is up: 20 percent of REALTORS® report market increasing over past 5 years compared to 6 percent reporting declining.
• Foreign buyers are upscale: Mean purchase price above that paid by domestic buyers.
• Five countries (Canada, China, Mexico, India, U.K.) accounted for 54 percent of foreign sales.

Lawrence Yun, Senior Vice President

Jed Smith, Managing Director, Quantitative Research    

Gay Cororaton, Research Economist June 2014