A new survey from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed that from April 2023 to March 2024, foreign purchasers bought $42 billion worth of existing properties in the U.S., a 21.2% decrease from the previous 12 months. 54,300 properties were purchased by foreign buyers, representing the lowest amount of homes purchased since 2009, the year NAR started collecting this data, and a 36% decrease from the prior year. In total, some 4.09 million existing homes were sold in the U.S. in 2023—a decrease of 18.7% from 2022 and the lowest amount since 1995.
“The strong U.S. dollar makes international travel cheaper for Americans but makes U.S. homes much more expensive for foreigners,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist. “Therefore, it’s not surprising to see a pullback in U.S. home sales from foreign buyers.”
Members of NAR were polled regarding transactions involving foreign clients who bought and sold residential real estate in the U.S. between April 2023 and March 2024 for the organization’s 2024 International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate report. Foreign buyers of existing residences in the U.S. paid $22.6 billion, a 3.4% decrease from the previous year and accounting for 54% of the total volume of acquisitions.
These buyers were either new immigrants to the country or held valid visas that permitted them to remain there. Foreign residents bought $19.4 billion worth of existing residences, representing 46% of the dollar volume and a 35% decrease from the previous year. During that time, existing-home sales in the U.S. totaled $2.1 trillion, of which 2% were made to foreign buyers.
“Historically low housing inventory and escalating prices remain significant factors in constraining home sales for American and international buyers alike,” Yun added.
Key Highlights:
- International buyers purchased $42 billion worth of U.S. residential properties from April 2023 to March 2024, down 21.2% from the prior year. The 54,300 existing homes sold—the lowest since NAR began tracking in 2009—slid 36% from the previous year.
- The average ($780,300) and median ($475,000) purchase prices for foreign buyers were the highest ever recorded by NAR.
- Canada, China, Mexico and India were the top countries of origin by number of U.S. existing homes purchased. The top U.S. destinations for foreign buyers were Florida (20%), Texas (13%), California (11%), Arizona (5%), Georgia, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina (4% each).
The average and median existing-home sales prices among foreign buyers were the highest ever recorded by NAR, coming in at $780,300 and $475,500, respectively, higher than the previous year. The price increase for foreign buyers was in line with the general increase in the cost of all existing residences in the U.S., which rose to $392,600. Chinese purchasers had the highest average purchase price, averaging $1.3 million, and 25% of them bought real estate in California. Between April 2023 and March 2024, 18% of foreign buyers acquired residences totaling more than $1 million.
With 13% of international buyers purchasing existing properties in the U.S., Canada topped all other countries of origin, followed by Mexico (11%), China (11%), and India (10%). With $7.5 billion in residential sales, China topped the U.S. in terms of dollar volume, maintaining a pattern that began in 2013. The next four countries in the top five were Mexico ($2.8 billion), Canada ($5.9 billion), India ($4.1 billion), and Colombia ($0.7 billion).
Florida continued to be the most popular location for overseas purchasers for the sixteenth year in a row, making up 20% of all international purchases. California (11%) and Texas (13%) came in second and third, respectively, followed by North Carolina (4%), Arizona (5%), Georgia, New Jersey, New York, and Arizona (4%).
Compared to 28% of all existing-home buyers, half of transactions involving foreign buyers were all-cash. Compared to resident international purchasers (36%), non-resident foreign buyers (68%) were more likely to make an all-cash purchase. Among the top international buyer nationalities, the largest percentage of all-cash transactions were made by Canadians (69%) and Chinese (68%) customers.
“Fostering economic investment in culturally dynamic communities, businesses, and industries is a top priority for NAR,” said Alex Escudero, NAR’s director of global strategy. “Our work provides members and their communities with tools, resources and data to identify and highlight international investment opportunities in U.S. real estate. This supports local communities to drive economic development in markets across the country. NAR and the Realtor brand have developed a network of more than 8,000 international Realtor members outside of the USA and expanded our global footprint to more than 100 real estate organizations across 78 countries, providing growth opportunities by ensuring ethical and accessible markets that allow our members to make direct connections with global-minded real estate professionals and international investors.”
To read the full report, including more data and methodology, click here.
