International buyers looking to invest in America’s residential real estate market have slipped 9.6 percent from last year, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). From April 2022 through March 2023, foreign buyers bought 84,600 properties across the country, representing a 14.2 percent decrease from the previous year and also the fewest number of homes purchased since 2009.
While those purchases totaled $53.3 billion worth of U.S. properties, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun blames sparse inventory and rising interest rates for the unprecedented decline. “Sharply lower housing inventory in the U.S. and higher borrowing costs across the world have dented international buyers for two straight years,” said Yun. “However, recovering international travel following the end of the pandemic will bring more foreign transactions in the coming months and years.”
