Foreign Buyers Continued to Drive South Florida Property Market in 2015

 
The annual survey, which includes data for Miami-Dade, Broward and this year was expanded to include Palm Beach and Martin counties, ranks countries of origin and highlights key characteristics of foreign buyers.

Florida remains the top state for international buyers with 21 percent of all foreign purchases in the U.S., according to NAR's 2015 Profile of Home Buying Activity of International Clients.  In Florida, Miami and Fort Lauderdale account for 50 percent of foreign sales, according to the 2015 Profile of International Home Buyers in Florida.

There continue to be more foreign buyers in Miami than in the rest of the U.S.  The number of agents working with international buyers increased four points to 74 percent compared to the previous year.  That's more than double the national figure of 35 percent, according to NAR.

In terms of dollar volume of sales in the Southeast Florida property market, the majority (78.9 percent) of international sales take place in Miami-Dade County, followed by Broward (18.0 percent), Palm Beach (2.7 percent) and Martin (.03 percent). Unit sales accounted for 22 percent of total sales in South Florida.

Top Countries Investing In South Florida

The top five countries of origin for consumers purchasing properties in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties are:

1. Venezuela
2. Brazil
3. Argentina
4. Colombia
5. Canada
6. Mexico
7. France and Italy

The top five countries or origin for buyers in South Florida - Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Canada - account for 62 percent of total closed sales.

Other top countries of origin  include Mexico, France and Italy.  Next tier countries are Ecuador, Spain, Russia, Dominican Republic, Chile, China, United Kingdom and Peru.

The top five countries of origin for consumers purchasing properties just in Miami-Dade are:

1. Venezuela
2. Brazil
3. Argentina
4. Colombia
5. Italy and Mexico

Other top countries include Canada, Ecuador, France, and Dominican Republic.

The top countries of origin for consumers buying real estate just in Broward County are:

1. Canada and Venezuela
2. Colombia
3. Argentina
4. Brazil
5. India and Russia

The top countries of origin for consumers buying real estate in Palm Beach County are Canada (32%) and Brazil (28%), while top consumers buying in Martin County are originally from China (51%) and Canada (34%).

Additional Survey Highlights Include:

• Foreign buyers South Florida spend more on properties than domestic buyers.  Foreign buyers paid $590,000 on the average compared to $329,869 (average) and $215,000 (median) locally.

• Mostly made all-cash transactions (75%).

• Prefer condominiums (52%) in the central/urban areas (61%), which they intend to use mainly for vacation and rental investment purposes (71%).

• Intend to use the Property for rental and/or vacation purposes (71%).