Foreign Investment in Existing Homes Decreasing

The annual foreign investment in U.S. existing home sales has decreased 21.2% to $42 billion from April 2023 to March 2024, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The number of properties purchased by international buyers fell by 36%, totaling 54,300 properties. This marks the fewest number of homes bought since 2009.

“The strong U.S. dollar makes international travel cheaper for Americans but makes U.S. homes much more expensive for foreigners,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a press release. “Therefore, it’s not surprising to see a pullback in U.S. home sales from foreign buyers.”

The breakdown of international buyers during this period was:

• Recent immigrants or those holding visas allowing them to live in the country: $22.6 billion (54% of the dollar volume of purchases)
• Foreign buyers living abroad: $19.4 billion (46% of the dollar volume)
• International buyers: $2.1 trillion (2%)

Additionally, home sales prices among international buyers were the highest ever recorded, on par with high U.S. home prices. The average existing home sales price for international buyers was $780,300, and the median was $475,000.

International buyers were most commonly from Canada (13%), China (11%), Mexico (11%) and India (10%), and the most popular states to purchase in were Florida (20% of all international purchases), Texas (13%) and California (11%).

While Pennsylvania’s real estate market sees a smaller amount of international buyers than other states, the commonwealth did appear on two lists. For Canadian buyers, Pennsylvania was the eighth most-popular state (3%), and for Indian buyers, it was 10th (5%).

NAR will host its “Unlocking Global Opportunities” webinar on Wednesday, July 31, at 1 p.m., where experts will discuss the findings of this year’s report, and Realtors® will share their personal experiences with international investment and how it has expanded their business.