If you live in South Florida, you know just how fantastic life is in this part of the world. Sporting some of the world’s most beautiful beaches, world renown chefs and inviting top entertainment, South Florida is the place to be, which is why this area of the country has always been popular for international home buyers and from the latest numbers, this trend is continuing.
According to a new survey conducted by the MIAMI Association of REALTORS®, 50 percent of all Florida international home sales from June 2014 through June 2015 were in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale market. The survey showed that international buyers spent an average of $538,600 on property in Florida.
From Broward County’s Weston luxury homes to Miami Dade County’s Coral Gables luxury homes, international buyers are paying for considerably higher home sales than the median Florida residential sales price of $258,200, which was noted during the same period.
Chairman of the Board of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS® John Dohm identifies 3 aspects that help to attract foreign buyers that are coming from Brazil, Venezuela and Columbia to China and Western Europe:
- diversified economy
- state of the art infrastructure
- world class arts and entertainment
World-class amenities and being the center of multiple global businesses is part of the appeal to the buying a Weston luxury homes and Coral Gables luxury homes, but the proximity to Latin America has played a major role in bringing in South American home buyers to the region.
Top Global Consumers Buying South Florida Real Estate
When it comes to international foreign real estate buyers, Venezuelan investors purchase the first most South Florida real estate among all foreign countries. Based on the 2014 Survey of International Home Purchases conducted by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) for MIAMI, second highest purchases of South Florida real estate by buyers from a foreign nation was Argentinian buyers with Brazil coming in third.
What’s intriguing is that Brazilians ranked at the top for those accessing a search for Miami real estate, based on log ins to the MIAMI Association of REALTORS® website. Over the last 16 months, 15 of those months identified Brazilians as accessing a search for real estate, beating out all other countries. This may indicate future interest in Weston luxury homes or Coral Gables luxury homes, and a shift in the demographics of international buyers to come.
The only other time over the last year and almost a half that Brazil didn’t rank top in searching for South Florida property was in July 2015 when Columbia took the lead. Additionally, statistics show an increased interest in the Miami / Fort Lauderdale region from the countries of Israel and Ecuador.
International Florida Real Estate Purchases
So where are foreign buyers making their homes in South Florida and the Sunshine State as a whole?
The preferred location for foreign buyers is the Miami and Miami Beach area. According to the survey, approximately 36 percent of all international housing deals happened in and around the Miami region.
The second highest city with the most foreign home purchases in Florida was Fort Lauderdale, which registered 14 percent of all transactions.
Following Fort Lauderdale, the next closest foreign buy in the Sunshine State was the Orlando-Kissimmee area with 8 percent of foreign home purchases.
