It's not just American "snowbirds" who are eyeing real estate in sunny Florida these days. Foreigners who aren't residents purchased nearly $8 billion in Florida residential real estate through June 2014. This means that purchases in the Sunshine State rose by nearly $1.5 billion during this period, research shows.
The reason that so many foreigners have been purchasing real estate in Florida is that the state's property is affordable. In addition, Florida's real estate appears profitable to many buyers. International sales made up a tenth of the state's residential market. In addition, 25 percent of foreign purchasers of homes in America buy real estate in Florida. Nearly a third of home purchases were completed by Canadians.
Behind them were those from Germany, France, the United Kingdom and other parts of Western Europe. Behind this group were buyers from the Caribbean/Latin America as well as Asia. An increasing number of people are purchasing real estate for rental and/or vacation purposes. A majority of foreign home purchases are made using cash; in fact, only 15 percent of deals have involved mortgage financing.
The world economy continues to recover, and this combined with U.S. properties' affordability is driving the current boost in international residential real estate purchasing activity in the United States. An applied knowledge of real estate law may help people to successfully navigate even complex real estate transactions. It is within the rights of an individual in our state to pursue his or her best interests during a real estate deal in Florida.
Source: opp-connect.com, "Foreigners spend US$1.5b more on Florida real estate", Adrian Bishop, Oct. 30, 2014