The number of existing houses snapped up by foreigners in the last year increased for the first time since 2017, according to a count from the National Association of Realtors. But it was still the second lowest level since the trade group began tallying the impact in 2017.
Asians were the largest group of buyers, followed by Latin Americans and Canadians. But by country alone, Chinese buyers knocked Canadians out of the top spot. And in another interesting discovery, more than half the properties purchased by foreigners were sold to those already in this country.
In all, foreigners acquired $56 billion worth of American houses between April 2024 and March 2025, a 33% increase over the same period earlier. They were able to do so because houses here, though expensive by American standards, are less so than in their home countries.
In terms of U.S. dollars, for example, houses in Monaco cost nearly $52,000 per square meter as opposed to just $11,400 per square meter in San Jose, one of America's costliest cities. Even in relatively inexpensive London, where the price is $9,300 per meter, it is nearly double that of Naples, Fla., where it is $4,900.
Recent immigrants or foreigners holding visas that allowed them to live in the states acquired 43,700 houses during the survey period, while those who still lived abroad bought 34,400. That’s 56% vs 44% and $26.9 billion vs $29.1 billion, respectively.
Florida again was the top destination for foreign buyers, accounting for 21% of their purchases. California was the second most popular place with a 15% share and Texas was third with a 10% share.
But the origin of those buyers were radically different. Florida’s main buyers were Latin Americans and Canadians, while more than half of those buying in California came from China.
Texas was the top destination among Mexican and Indian buyers, while Arizona’s foreign buyers were relatively evenly spread between Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Oceania, and Europe (15%).
The median purchase price among foreign buyers was $494,400, somewhat higher than the median price of $408,500 for all existing homes sold in the United States during the survey period. The price difference, according to NAR, is because foreigners tend to buy in more central locations and the types of properties they acquire.
Nearly a fifth buy houses worth more than $1 million. Normally, those living abroad tend to buy more expensive places than those already here. But this time, those living abroad flipped the switch, $544,700 vs $448,400.
Also, buyers who reside in the U.S. tend to purchase single-family homes as primary residences in the suburbs, whereas those who live abroad tend to buy houses for vacation or rental use.
In another big difference, foreigners often pay cash. Indeed, 47% of their purchases were all-cash deals compared to 28% of all existing house purchases, with 56% of the cash purchases by non-resident buyers.
More than two-thirds of Chinese buyers and approximately three-fifths of those from the U.K. and Canada paid with cash, as compared to just under half of all Mexicans. Asian and Indian buyers accounted for the lowest share of cash sales at 43%. Nearly all of that group of buyers reside in the states and most often obtain mortgage financing.
Even in the pre-tariff era, two-thirds of NAR members reported working with an international client who decided not to or was unable to buy here, primarily because they couldn’t find something they wanted, the cost was too high or they couldn’t obtain financing. That’s the highest share since NAR began taking tabs.
And of course, international trade goes both ways, as it does in real estate. Sixteen percent of all agents have an American client who is seeking to buy in another country, an increase from 9% in the previous survey.
Mexico is the most popular place they are looking at, but other Latin American and Caribbean countries of interest include Grenada, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. Portugal is the top European destination, followed by the U.K., Italy, and Spain.
U.S. clients were most often interested in purchasing a vacation home or a residential rental property, and when they found what they were looking for, they made cash offers almost half the time.
