A Growing Force of U.S. Home Buyers | Real Estate Today Radio

Bargains abound in U.S. real estate at the moment, and the international crowd has been taking notice and cashing in. Real estate sales volume in the U.S. to foreign buyers is estimated at eighty two billion dollars for 2012 up by 24 percent in one year. That?s quite a jump.

As we mentioned earlier in the show, a report out this week by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS? highlights the surge in U.S. international home buying activity this year. It?s something a lot of people in the real estate community are really taking notice of.

Lower home prices and a weakness in the dollar are helping to lift U.S. sales from foreign buyers in recent months. The jump from foreign sales has even helped accelerate some housing markets? recovery which could prove a boon to home owners and sellers who would really like to see their home values rise again soon

Some international buyers have been bringing blockbuster, record-breaking home sales to the U.S. For example, a more than twenty five thousand square foot single-family home in Silicon Valley was sold late last year to a Russian tech billionaire for; get this, one hundred million dollars. Wow! That?s believed to be the highest price paid ever for a single-family home in the United States. And in New York City, a penthouse sold to a Russian billionaire?s daughter for eighty eight million dollars, shattering sales records there.

But not all international buyers come to the U.S. in search of a big-buy trophy property.

Forty five percent of foreign buyers who purchased a property in the U.S. bought properties that were priced at two hundred fifty thousand dollars or less, according to the REALTOR? study.

The majority of international buyers say they want a property in the U.S. to use as either a vacation or rental home. Another important factor driving their purchase is that they view buying a home in the U.S. as a profitable investment and a secure investment at that.

They seek homes that are in closest proximity to their home country, according to the study. For example, Europeans tend to prefer the East Coast, and Asians tend to prefer the West Coast. We?re generalizing here, of course.

Foreign buyers also report in the REALTOR? study that their home buying decisions are motivated by climate too. So maybe it?s not too surprising that sunny Florida and Arizona are big havens for Canadian buyers, who likely are looking to escape those cold northern Winters.

So who seems to have the biggest thirst for U.S. property globally?

More than half of foreign buyers to the U.S. are coming from just a handful of countries: Canada, The People?s Republic of China which includes Hong Kong, Mexico, India, and the United Kingdom.

Canadian buyers, however, make up the majority. They seemed to have the biggest appetite for U.S. property this year. They made up 24 percent of international homes sales in the U.S.

That?s whose coming but where are they going when they come to America? Any guesses?

Fifty one percent of the purchases from foreign buyers occur in four states alone. Those are in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.

Florida is the biggest destination for international buyers. It accounts for 26 percent of international home sales in the U.S., that?s more than a quarter, and it?s pretty significant.

Our nation was built on the idea of a melting pot, the blending of cultures from across the globe. And surely, with real estate in 2012, that melting pot has come to fruition in home sales, where home buyers from across borders are showing they have a big desire for the American Dream of home ownership too.

Source: http://retradio.com/?p=5601

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