International reports show impact on real estate market

The expansion of international trade and flow of people across borders has lead to a demand in real estate in both residential and commercial sectors, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

NAR is now offering current state-by-state reports on international transactions allowing individuals to understand the impact this expansion has on state markets as well as on economic activity.

Created in November, the purpose of the reports are to present recent economic and demographic data related to international business activity directly associated with each of the U.S. states.

There is one report per state including one for the District of Columbia with a total of 51 reports. Each report is in PDF format and viewing or saving these reports requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Each report includes the following information:

• Population demographics: U.S. born, foreign born, naturalized and non-U.S. citizen residents
• Main languages spoken in households
• Immigration and naturalization trends
• Non-immigrant visitors to the state
• Foreign direct investment in the U.S. and the specific state
• Value of state exports by type of product
• State exports to specific trading partner counties

These reports are one of a number of recently released NAR reports on international subjects. The 2011 NAR Profile of International Home Buying Activity presents an overview of U.S. home purchases by people whose primary residence is outside of the U.S.

According to the report, close to $100 billion in U.S. property was sold to foreign buyers from 70 different countries in 2010. More than 62 percent of these sales were paid in cash and $5 billion were paid in real estate commissions.

NAR’s research continues to show an increase in the number of Realtors® who work with international clients. The global real estate business was $66 billion in 2010 and rose to $82 billion in 2011.