Lone Star Living
Home sales to international buyers in Texas surge past $18 billion in one year
International homebuyers are flocking to the Lone Star State, according to a new report from the Texas Association of Realtors. From April 2016 to March 2017, more than 34,000 homes worth $18.66 billion were sold in Texas to buyers from across the globe, figures compiled in the Texas International Homebuyers Report indicate.
Sales of such residences in Texas were up 59 percent during that period and the dollar sales volume nearly doubled from the previous year.
Texas ranks No. 2, behind Florida and ahead of California, New Jersey and Arizona in the number of international home sales.
“This surge in international home sales activity underscores the growing reputation Texas has as a global destination for owning a home or investment property,” Vicki Fullerton, chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors, said in a statement. “The state’s low unemployment, diverse industry base and world class higher education institutions are just some of the reasons why international residents seek to attend college, raise a family or do business in Texas.”
Nearly half (43 percent) of Mexican homebuyers who purchased a home in the U.S. chose Texas. The Lone Star State also experienced a significant share of Chinese buyers, with 11 percent of international homebuyers from China purchasing a home in Texas, and 10 percent from India.
The report does not break down sales according to each Texas city, but big sales seems to be the case in the Houston area. "There’s so much movement coming into Texas," says longtime Houston Realtor John Daugherty. "The No. 1 population is coming from China. We see an incredible amount of international growth in this city in the next two to three years."
Nationwide, foreign buyers paid an average of $536,852 for a residence in the United States. The median purchase price was $302,300.
