98,000 US Homes Sold to Foreigners in One Year... Lowest Ever Recorded

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] The number of foreigners purchasing homes in the United States has been declining.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 18th (local time), citing data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), that 98,600 U.S. homes were sold to foreigners from April 2021 to March 2022. This represents a 7.9% decrease compared to the previous year. It marks the fifth consecutive year of decline and is the lowest figure since NAR began compiling statistics in 2009.

However, due to rising real estate prices, the total transaction amount increased by 8.5% from the previous year, reaching $59 billion (approximately 77.6 trillion KRW).

By nationality, Chinese buyers accounted for the largest share of home purchases, totaling $6.1 billion (approximately 8 trillion KRW). This is about 20% of the peak amount of $31.7 billion recorded in 2017.

The proportion of foreign buyers in the total U.S. home transaction volume was 1.6%. The regions most popular among foreigners were Florida, California, Texas, Arizona, and New York, in that order.