International market flocks to America

PRSEA | Jun 13, 2012 | 

International sales in the US are up 24% y-o-y in 2012, but Florida still remains the most popular investment state.

International property purchases spend almost double than their American counterparts, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Average international residential purchases cost was US$400,000, in 2012, compared with an average of US$212,000 sale price to an American.

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The average spend for American’s is almost half that of international property purchasers.
According to the NAR report median price tags of property purchases by United States citizens is US$165,000 per transaction. Where as homebuyers from outside of the US spend an average of US$165,000.
US homebuyers spend 35 per cent less than other international buyers, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
For Realtors, the US$87,000 difference represents an average of US$2,610 decrease in dealing with a US buyer at three per cent commission.
International property price averages highlight that international sales are “becoming a key part of the real estate business and will only get more important,” commented the NAR.
Adding to their weight-in-value is the increasing volume of international buyers coinciding decreasing housing prices in the States. International buyers are attractive to the market, as two-thirds of international purchases were done so in cash, according to the NAR.
“It’s not just sun and sand,” as international sales are up in states other than Florida, Arizona, and California, reported AG Beat.
Canada has been an ongoing major source of investment, accounting for 23 per cent of all of 2011’s US$82 billion in international sales.
NAR reports that Canadian buyers focus is still based on sunny and sandy states.
Boosting international sales, China is increasingly spending more on US home purchases.
California attracts property purchases largely from the Asian market.
Investment from the UK and Mexico is declining, though these countries continue to be in the top five origins of all international buyers.
The East Coast attracts many European property buyers.
Year-on-year there was a 24 per cent increase in international sales in 2010-11.
Over one in four Realtors handled at least one international deal last year, and that figure is likely to increase year-on-year as international investors are attracted to low property prices in the US.