International buyers accounted for $6.1 billion or 36 percent of South Florida’s home sales in 2015, according to a report released on Thursday.
From September 2014 to August 2015, foreign buyers picked Florida above other states when buying homes. Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Canada accounted for 62 percent of those sales, according to the 2015 Profile of International Home Buyers by the Miami Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors.
The survey covers Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties, finding that Florida leads the country with 21 percent of the nation’s foreign purchases. Miami and Fort Lauderdale accounted for a whopping 50 percent of the state’s foreign sales.
Based on dollar amounts, 79 percent of international sales were in Miami-Dade, followed by 18 percent in Broward and 2.7 percent in Palm Beach.
Foreign buyers in South Florida tend to spend more than domestic buyers, according to the report. And 75 percent of their purchases are made with all cash.
Here is a breakdown of the top countries investing in South Florida, including Martin County:
- Venezuela
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Colombia
- Canada
- Mexico
- France and Italy
- Ecuador
- Spain
- Russia
In Miami-Dade, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Italy and Mexico led the list. In Broward, Canada and Venezeula, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, and India and Russia were the biggest international buyers. And in Palm Beach, Canada and Brazil were the top countries of origin for real estate buys. – Katherine Kallergis