Home purchases by Americans may be waning, but foreigners are finding the U.S. housing market an enticing place to spend their money.
Offshore purchasers are lured to the market by bargains and currency rate advantages. Additionally, as one-third of these buyers have historically bought with cash, the mortgage credit crunch is not a worry for them.
Texas ranks fourth in the country for foreign homebuyers, with about 7 percent of the total, behind Florida, California and Arizona, according to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) survey.
According to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, the real estate sold to foreign buyers in Texas tends to be modest-priced homes purchased by Mexicans in the border area for work-related reasons. More than 60 percent of the homes purchased by Mexicans are priced under $200,000.
Texas is second only to Florida as a destination for Latin American home purchasers.
Almost a quarter of Texas real estate agents say their international business has increased in the last five years.
Source: Dallas Morning News