Condo.com sees Latin Americans and Western Europeans buying in Miami & Miami Beach
MIAMI, FL (April 17, 2013) – Florida has been one of the top U.S. destinations for international homebuyers for many years, but nowhere else in the Sunshine State do they love it more than the Miami-Miami Beach metro area. According to the National Association of Realtors’ Profile of International Home Buyers in Florida 2012, more than 31% of all international sales in the State occurred in the area. That’s well ahead of its nearest competitor, Fort Lauderdale, which came in second with just 11.6% of all state sales. Looking at all residential transactions throughout Florida over a twelve-month period ending last June, approximately 19% involved non-resident foreigners. Top real estate portal Condo.com expects the trend of sales to foreigners to continue supported by a steady increase in searches on its real estate portal from these markets.
Latin Americans, including Caribbean nationals, are clearly enamored with the Miami Beach area as they represent 70% of international sales, the report shows. Western Europeans, not including people in the United Kingdom, came in a distant second with 18% of sales. In both groups, these mostly cash-buyers are finding the Miami-metro area to be a secure, affordable and long-term investment in property that they are likely to use both as a vacation spot for themselves and to rent out to others for three to six months of the year.
For Latin Americans, other than those from Brazil and Venezuela, as well as Caribbean island nationals, Miami-Miami Beach ruled. Nearly 69% of sales in this group were made in the area. In Florida, 19% of sales to foreign buyers were made by this group. Statewide they chose condos and apartments 54% of the time, while 24% of buyers chose detached single-family homes.
Looking at homebuyers from Brazil, more than 49% who bought property in Florida chose Miami Beach for its urban city lifestyle. In Florida, they tended to purchase houses in the $200,000 to $299,000 range, mostly preferring condominiums (61%) over detached single-family homes (21%). Brazilian buyers’ second choice in Florida was Fort Lauderdale with 18.6% of all sales happening there. Brazilian homebuyers are clearly loyal to South Florida over other regions in the U.S.
The Venezuelan homebuyer group made up 7% of all international purchasers in Florida, with 67% of those sales taking place in Miami & Miami Beach. In Florida, close to half of them chose condos, and about 25% bought detached single-family homes. Most of the FL homes sold to Venezuelans were under $400,000, a bit on the higher side compared to other foreign buyer groups.
