Foreign buyers and investors are making a huge impact on the U.S real estate market. A number of rich, foreign investors are choosing to use U.S. luxury real estate to protect their assets, using it as a means to protect their wealth in a time of economic and political uncertainty and instability in their home country. North American real estate and U.S luxury real estate is often seen as one of the safest places to make an investment.
Chinese Buyers
According to a report carried out by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the Chinese were the top foreign purchasers of U.S real estate, with purchases by Chinese buyers accounting for just over 25% of the total of all foreign sales. The large uptake in Chinese buyers has also even created a market for Chinese-American brokers who specialize in home sales to buyers from China. Katy Patterson of The Lange Group said: “We have a number of Chinese buyers per year interested in purchasing luxury real estate, and we are happy to work with buyers from all around the globe.”
Spending Totals
As of March 2015, foreign buyers had spent a total of just over $104 billion when it comes to buying real estate in the U.S. For the first time, China has overtaken Canada for the most numbers of foreign real estate investors and buyers of U.S homes and luxury real estate. The close proximity to Canada has always made the U.S an attractive prospect to Canadian investors and real estate buyers when it comes to purchasing homes. Canadians seeking a warmer climate also tend to look for homes to buy in warmer areas such as Florida, Texas, California and Arizona.
Popular States
In most U.S. states, foreign buyers account for around three percent of total home sales. However, Florida and California top the charts, with around 16-20% of total real estate and luxury real estate sales going to buyers from overseas. Large, new construction homes are often of particular interest to foreign buyers, which makes Orange County, California in particular an attractive area thanks to a large number of this type of property in the area. Florida and California are also popular holiday destinations, making for excellent investment opportunities when it comes to buying luxury real estate to use as a rental vacation home or villa.
Buying for Personal Use
Of course, not all foreign buyers purchase luxury real estate in the U.S for the sake of investment. Although investment purposes make up a large percentage of the reasons why foreigners buy homes in the U.S., many often also purchase property for personal use or to use as a vacation home, especially if they travel to the U.S. often for business or leisure. Owning a luxury vacation home in the U.S. is also a good opportunity for investment, as it can be rented out to other holidaymakers when not in use by the owner.
Have you ever considered buying property overseas? Or, do you own real estate overseas? Let us know in the comments.
