Austin Business Journal writes, "America's housing market is showing increased interest from international buyers.
That’s according to a new report from Realtor.com, which analyzed international views of for-sale listings on the Realtor.com U.S. marketplace between January and March 2025, as compared to previous quarters.
The data showed the share of home shoppers who came from outside the U.S. grew from 1.3% in the first quarter of 2020 to 1.9% during the same time this year. It was also up from 1.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Cities with the most global interest
In the first quarter of 2025, Miami was the most-popular metro market for international home shoppers, with that metro area capturing 8.7% of demand from outside the U.S. According to the National Association of Realtors, Florida has been the No. 1 state for foreign buyers for the past 16 years.
Giant coastal metros of New York (4.9%) and Los Angeles (4.6%) also rounded out the top three markets seeing the largest share of international activity.
Southern cities see uptick in international interest
Sun Belt metros that saw tremendous pandemic-era in-migration — which often resulted in an influx of wealthier residents to those areas — are also hot with international home shoppers.
Orlando, Florida (with 2.9% of international traffic); Dallas (2.8%); Houston (2.6%); Tampa, Florida (2.5%); and Phoenix (2.3%) were all in the top 10 metros for international home shoppers in the first quarter.
Texas has garnered worldwide interest in recent years as well. Both Austin (1.2%) and San Antonio (1%) were new to the top 20 list of metros for international home shoppers this past quarter, while Dallas climbed three spots from the same time a year ago.
According to the Realtor.com report, Texas’ cultural diversity, strong university systems and robust international-travel connections further enhance its appeal with potential international buyers. In recent years, many large U.S. firms have relocated their headquarters to places like Texas out of more-expensive metros in states like California.
But while residential real estate inventory is up from pandemic lows, especially in Austin, what’s available now favors first-time buyers as opposed to those looking for luxury housing.
Meanwhile, in the West, interest from international buyers may be waning.
In the first quarter of 2020, San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas were all top destinations for potential international buyers. But during the same quarter this year, those three are no longer in the top 20.
A sharp drop in affordability in San Francisco has led to long-term concerns about diminished returns from international buyers, according to Realtor.com, and tech-sector volatility as well as issues around homelessness and zoning debates have only added to shoppers’ trepidation, the firm said.
Canadians still the biggest international home shoppers
Despite recent tensions with the United States' northern neighbor, Canadians still made up the largest percentage of international residential real estate interest, at 34.7% of all international online home-shopping traffic in the first quarter of this year.
That said, the share of homebuying interest from Canadians did fall from the 40.7% recorded at the same time last year. Florida could feel that loss more keenly than other states.
The share of international views from Canada declined across all of the top U.S. metros, with the steepest decline in Naples, Florida. In the first quarter of 2024, Canada accounted for 73.1% of international online traffic to Naples, but that fell to 59.6% — a 13.5 percentage-point decline — year over year.
Potential homebuyers from Mexico didn’t show quite the same level of retreat from the U.S. housing market, going from 5.8% of international traffic in the first quarter of 2024 to 5.4% in the first quarter of 2025. Mexican buyers tend to favor border communities, with San Antonio (18.8%) and Riverside, California, (10.5%) being top destinations for Mexican home shoppers.
And while some Mexican home shoppers have ventured farther north, appetite for some locales has lessened. Chicago, for example, experienced the largest drop in interest among potential Mexican home shoppers. In the first quarter of 2024, Mexicans accounted for 10.9% of international demand in Chicago, but that dropped to 8.2% in the first quarter of 2025.
Shoppers from other countries that had interest in U.S. residential real estate came from the United Kingdom (5.7% of international traffic), Germany (3.8%) and Australia (3.2%)."
Source: Austin Business Journal
Written by: Joanne Drilling
Published: June 18, 2025
Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on
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