Dive Brief:
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Fewer foreign buyers are investing in U.S. real estate, but those who do are spending more for each property, according to the National Association of Realtors' "2015 Profile of Home Buying Activity of International Clients."
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Although 10% fewer homes were sold to non-U.S. buyers between April 2014 and March 2015, total international sales totaled approximately $104 billion, up from $92.2 billion during the prior 12 months. That accounts for 8% of the revenue from the sale of all existing homes. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the increased spending indicates U.S. homes have become attractive to a more upscale international buyer.
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The foreigners most likely to buy U.S. homes are Chinese, who have surpassed Canadians — who for years have dominated international sales as they invested in warm-weather U.S. vacation and retirement properties. In third place are investors from India, followed by Mexican and British buyers of U.S. homes. Combined, those five countries accounted for 51% of purchases by international buyers, the NAR reported.
Dive Insight:
The NAR attributed this drop in the number of non-U.S. buyers to the strengthening U.S. dollar and weaker foreign economies. The bump in the amount spent on each property, however, indicates that foreign investors have become more of an "upscale group of buyers," Yun said.
No one from those countries, however, has paid as much as a Qatari buyer who will reportedly pony up for a New York City penthouse: The unnamed investor is expected to purchase a number of apartments in a luxury building at 220 Central Park South and combine them into a single, $250 million penthouse that would be New York City’s most-expensive residence. The city’s priciest penthouse so far — at 550 Madison Avenue, sold for $100.5 million in January.
