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Foreign buying of US homes falls 14% as Chinese remain top spenders despite state curbs

The drop in foreign homebuyer activity mirrors the decline in international visitors and tourists to the US, says realty group

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An aerial view along Pompano Beach in Florida, the top US state for foreign homebuyers. Photo: TNS
Zhu Wenqianin Beijing

Foreign purchases of US homes fell to their second-lowest level on record between April last year and March, although Chinese buyers remained the largest spenders as they bought higher-priced properties primarily in California, a new report found.

Chinese buyers, last year’s top group, fell to third place in terms of home buying volume, behind Canada and Mexico. India and the UK were in fourth and fifth spots, according to a report on international transactions by the National Association of Realtors in the US.

Still, China remained No 1 in dollar volume at US$7.6 billion, indicating an average purchase price of roughly US$1 million, according to the report released on Wednesday.

High prices and tight inventory outweighed a favourable exchange rate. International buyers bought 67,100 properties, down 14 per cent year on year to the second-lowest level since the association started tracking foreign buyer activity in 2009. The median purchase price was US$465,000.

“The decline in foreign homebuyer activity mirrors the decline in international visitors and tourists to the US,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. “Even a slightly weaker US dollar over the past year, which provides more purchasing power for foreigners, did not induce more activity.”

“Foreign buyers from Canada and Mexico – countries that border the US – bought the most housing units. However, Chinese buyers (from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) spent the most dollars because they bought higher-priced homes, specifically in California,” Yun said.

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