Foreign Investors More in Tune With the U.S. Real Estate Market

Foreign buyers have accounted for $92.2 billion in sales in the last year which is the highest sales number in the last four years.  Wow, why are so many buying in the States, and where are they buying?

First of all the majority were Chinese buyers, they accounted for $22 billion which is 24 percent of the total, apparently that number has doubled in the last year.

In regards to where they are purchasing, there are four states which made up the majority, those were: Florida (23 percent of purchases), California (14 percent), Texas (12 percent) and Arizona (6 percent).

The National Association of Realtors analyzed data on international client purchases of U.S. homes between April 2013 and March 2014. International clients were those who either had a permanent residence outside of the U.S. or were recent immigrants who had been in the U.S. less than two years.

“We live in an international marketplace; so while all real estate is local, that does not mean that all property buyers are,” said NAR President Steve Brown in a statement.

Five countries accounted for 54 percent of international sales: Canada, China, Mexico, India and the United Kingdom. While Canadian buyers continued to be the top source of international sales by transaction volume, Chinese buyers accounted for the largest sales volume by far: $22 billion compared with Canadian buyers’ $13.8 billion.

Surprisingly 2014 inventory is fairly high for San Diego real estate, with the increase in the interest rate from last year we are up roughly 3,000 homes on the market giving us a smaller buyer pool and larger inventory of homes compared with a year ago which is not ideal for sellers.

So why are the international buyers purchasing so rapidly this year?

“Foreign buyers are being enticed to U.S. real estate because of what they recognize as attractive prices, economic stability, and an incredible opportunity for investment in their future.”

Now let’s hope that our fellow countrymen can also take advantage of the rates and price tags and have an opportunity to invest in their futures.