n 2016† buyers from other countries purchased 10,885 residential properties (an increase of 1.9 percent for the previous yeas total of 10,678). This number comprises about a quarter of all sales—non-international buyers made 76 percent (or 34,387) of purchases. And half of these purchases were made by buyers from Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. These are just a couple of the findings in the just-released 2016 Profile of International Homebuyers conducted for the Miami Association of REALTORS® by the National Association of REALTORS®.
The 74-page report suggests a link between South Florida and the region’s key visitor markets and hints at many possibilities as to why visitors from these markets are doing more than merely having a vacation when they come to Miami and other key destinations in South Florida. Some of the key findings of the survey include the following.
- On average, Miami’s international buyers purchased more expensive properties compared to other foreign buyers.
- Almost three quarters (72 percent) of Miami’s international buyers paid cash for their purchases.
- 75 percent of MIAMI foreign buyers intended to use the property as residential rental, vacation home, or for both uses.
- 94 percent of foreign buyers visited Florida at least once before purchasing a property.
- 62 percent reported the exchange rate changes had a significant effect, higher than in previous years.
- 76 percent of international buyers are fluent in a language other than English (vs. 73 percent in 2015). 79 percent of referrals/leads for purchases came from personal contacts, previous clients, and business contacts.
- Buyers from other countries purchased $19.4 billion of Florida residential property in the 12 months that ended july 2016.
Following are some of the tables and charts from the survey.
One might suspect, on the basis of the following two charts, that buyers of real estate in the U.S. are do so to have a stable investment—one that is immune to a dollar that, in recent years, has grown strong vs. other currencies.
The U.S. Dollar Has Strengthened Against Most Currencies since 2014 (Two Tables)
The following chart gives a broader picture of key international real estate buyers—especially where they are from—of properties in the whole of the United States. China leads all nations.
†A note on the survey: The 2016 survey provides information on the international residential transactions of Miami Association of REALTORS® (“MIAMI”) members during August 2015–July 2016. The 2015 survey covered the period July 2014–June 2015. The MIAMI survey was conducted from August 9–October 4, 2016, yielding 1,496 respondents. To increase the number of respondents from Martin County, the 45 respondents who reported Martin County as their primary business area in the 2016 Florida survey were included in the analysis. Altogether, the combined set consisted of 1,541 respondents.
