International Essentials - National Association of Realtors

   The REALTORS® Relief Foundation of the National Association of Realtors® is contributing $550,000 to the relief of victims of the Haiti earthquake, and is calling upon its 1.2 million members to help.

  Interest in U.S. real estate by international buyers declined due to the worldwide recession and severe credit crunch, according to the 2009 National Association of Realtors® Profile of International Home Buying Activity.

The foreign direct investment report provides a breakdown of U.S. real estate holdings by major countries, a market overview, and forecast. View full report (PDF: 286K) >

The U.S. recession's global implications may be felt the strongest by our southern neighbor, Mexico, which has lowered its estimate of inbound foreign direct investment for 2008 to between $17 and $18 billion, down from $23 billion in 2007. The government had previously projected FDI flows of $20 billion for 2008, citing the U.S. recession as the cause of many companies to slow down op [ ... ]

What can you do right away to develop international real estate business?

WASHINGTON (August 7, 2008) – International real estate purchases in the U.S. continue to be a significant share of business for many Realtors®, according to the 2008 National Association of Realtors® Profile of International Home Buying Activity.  

REALTORS® working with clients on outbound investments should have knowledge of the basic statistics for the market(s), even if the client is being referred to a local broker to handle the transaction.

Later this summer NAR will release a new report on purchases of U.S. real estate by foreign citizens. Here's a sneak peek at some of the findings. The typical international buyer purchased a single family home for vacation purposes at $297,400 with mortgage financing, and stayed at his/her U.S. property for 2.6 months.

The United States is number one when it comes to attracting foreign investment, but emerging markets such as China and India may overtake the U.S. in the race for foreign cash within the next few years, according to a survey of CFOs and other senior executives conducted by audit, tax, and advisory firm KPMG.

A recent survey of home price indicators suggests that the worldwide housing boom is over according to the Global Property Guide. Of 34 countries in which home price indices are regularly published, 21 saw home prices fall after adjusting for inflation over the past year (y-o-y ending 1Q 2008). In the majority of markets where house prices did not fall, they are losing momentum.