Top Takeaways From NAR’s International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate Report

The National Association of REALTORS® just released their 2022 International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate Report. The annual report includes data from April 2021 to March 2022. The report also provides information on U.S. clients seeking to purchase property abroad. Here are other major takeaways from the report:

Highlights

  • $59 billion: Dollar volume of foreign buyer residential purchases during April 2021-March 2022 (2.6% of $2.3 trillion of the dollar volume of existing-home sales)
  • 98,600: Number of foreign buyer existing-home purchases during April 2021-March 2022 (1.6% of 6.06 million existing-home sales)
  • 57%: Foreign buyers who reside in the United States are recent immigrants (less than two years at the time of the transaction) or non-immigrant visa holders.

Top Foreign Buyers

  • Canada (11% of foreign buyers, $5.5 billion)
  • Mexico (8% of foreign buyers, $2.9 billion)
  • China (6% of foreign buyers, $6.1 billion)
  • India (5% of foreign buyers, $3.6 billion)
  • Brazil (3% of foreign buyers, $1.6 billion)
  • Colombia (3% of foreign buyers, $1.0 billion)

Additional Information  

  • Asian Indian buyers had the highest median price of $501,100. Asian Indian buyers also favored states where homes are more expensive: California, New Jersey, Utah, Washington, Utah and Illinois.
  • 2% of foreign buyers from Canada, 3% of foreign buyers from Mexico, 4% of foreign buyers from China and 7% of foreign buyers from India purchased in Illinois.
  • Florida remained the major destination, with a higher foreign buyer share of 24%.
  • Foreign buyers tend to make all-cash purchases. The share of all-cash foreign buyer purchases increased to 44% compared to 24% among all buyers of existing homes.
  • As of March 2022, more Canadian dollars were needed to purchase a U.S. dollar compared to one year ago (0.7%), as well as the euro (8.0%) and the British pound (5.3%).