Foreign Home Buyers Recede from U.S. Market as Prices Soar

International home buyers are backing away from the U.S. housing market amid high home prices and low inventory, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ new report, 2024 International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate. Foreign buyers purchased 36% fewer homes between April 2023 and March 2024 compared to the prior 12-month period, marking the lowest sales to foreign buyers since NAR first began tracking such data in 2009.

“The strong U.S. dollar makes international travel cheaper for Americans but makes U.S. homes much more expensive for foreigners,” says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Therefore, it’s not surprising to see a pullback in U.S. home sales from foreign buyers.”

International buyers who did purchase a home in the last year spent record amounts, averaging $780,300 per property and a median of $475,000, according to NAR’s report. About 18% of international buyers purchased properties worth more than $1 million, the report shows.

“Historically, low housing inventory and escalating prices remain significant factors in constraining home sales for American and international buyers alike,” Yun says. Thirty-six percent of real estate professionals surveyed say the top reason why their international clients decided not to purchase U.S. property was because they could not find a home to buy; about a third also expressed concerns over higher costs.  

Where Foreign Buyers Are Still Active

NAR’s latest report shows the top international buyers of U.S. homes were from:

• Canada (13% of foreign buyers, $5.9 billion)
• China (11%, $7.5 billion)
• Mexico (11%, $2.8 billion)
• India (10%, $4.1 billion)

Chinese buyers had the highest average purchase price at $1.3 million; about a quarter of their purchases were located in California, the report shows.

Sun Belt states continue to draw most of the attention from abroad. The top destinations for foreign homebuying activity over the past year were in Florida, Texas, California and Arizona.

Forty-five percent of foreign buyers purchased a property for use as a vacation home, rental or for both purposes, according to NAR’s report. They also tended to pay cash for their home purchase: All-cash sales comprised half of international buyer transactions compared to 28% of domestic existing home purchases.

NAR is hosting a webinar, “Unlocking Global Opportunities,” at 1 p.m. EST on July 31. The webinar will highlight more of this year’s report and feature REALTORS® who will share their personal experiences with international investment and how it has expanded their business.