{"id":1238,"date":"2012-08-16T19:45:56","date_gmt":"2012-08-16T19:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/juliekrealestateblog.com\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2014-07-31T15:00:44","modified_gmt":"2014-07-31T15:00:44","slug":"real-estate-tourism-whos-really-buying-americas-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/juliemeggat\/real-estate-tourism-whos-really-buying-americas-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Estate Tourism: Who’s Really Buying America’s Homes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russian billionaires have been making headlines for snapping up some of the most opulent homes in the United States. Yuri Milner \u2018overpaid\u2019 by 100%\u00a0<\/a>on a $100 million Silicon Valley mansion in 2011. Dmitry Rybolovlev\u2019s\u00a0<\/a>daughter\u00a0bought an $88 million penthouse\u00a0<\/a>in New York City (after spending $100 million on Donald Trump\u2019s Palm Beach palace in 2008). This week, an anonymous Russian buyer plunked down $47 million\u00a0in Miami\u2019s most expensive sale ever<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Russians certainly aren\u2019t the only foreigners plowing money into American real estate. \u201cThe reason the Russians get so much attention is that they buy the highest ticket trophy properties,\u201d says\u00a0Jacky Teplitzky, a managing director at\u00a0Prudential\u00a0Douglas Elliman Real Estate,<\/a>\u00a0who peddles property in New York City and South Florida. \u201cBut if you go by number of buyers, you have much more activity coming from places like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n

To name a few.\u00a0Since the housing bust, foreign buyers have flooded the U.S. housing market, taking advantage of favorable exchange rates, weaker prices and, in some cases, record-low mortgage rates. Foreign nationals accounted for $82.5 billion, or 8.9%, of the $928 billion spent on U.S. residential real estate from April 2011 through March 2012,\u00a0according a June survey from the National Association of Realtors<\/a>. That was up 24% from $66.4 billion the previous year. More than 50% of sales over the past year occurred in just five states: Florida, California, Texas, Arizona and New York.<\/p>\n

Chinese are also shopping in the U.S. in growing numbers. Buyers from mainland China and Hong Kong account for over $7 billion in sales annually, or 11% of international sales activity in the year to March, according to NAR, making them the second-largest foreign buyers of U.S. homes. The influx of newly minted millionaires has inspired developers to reserve units on floors with the number \u2018eight\u2019 in new condo projects \u2014 like Manhattan\u2019s One57 \u2014 for Chinese buyers (Chinese consider eight to be a lucky number), and real estate brokers are embarking on overseas marketing trips that have resulted in big-ticket purchases like Beverly Hills\u2019 $34.5 millionWehba Mansion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If the Chinese are the second-largest foreign buyers of U.S. homes, who\u2019s No. 1? Our neighbors to the north in Canada. Canadians accounted for 24% of sales to foreigners in the year to March, according to NAR.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not likely to let up:\u00a0Realtor.com<\/a>\u00a0says Canadians account for the most international search activity on the listing site every month in nearly all of major U.S. metro areas.<\/p>\n

Canadians have been a dominant purchasing force in hard-hit Sunbelt states like Arizona and Florida. A relatively weak greenback coupled with low home prices represents an opportunity to scoop up a home that could be used for vacations now and retirement later.<\/p>\n

Canadians have also been buying in the Midwest, including Chicago. \u201cClose proximity to Canada makes it an easy place for Canadians to invest money,\u201d says Bob Krawitz of\u00a0RE\/MAX Signature<\/a>\u00a0in Chicago. He says interest runs along all price points, from distressed properties that can be fixed up and rented out to seven-figure mansions along Lakeshore Drive.<\/p>\n

Brazilians are getting attention for their buying sprees in markets like Miami and increasingly, New York City, but Argentineans have been just as active. \u201cThe foreign buyer story should be as much about Argentineans as Brazilians,\u201d asserts Philip Spiegelman, a principal at\u00a0International Sales Group<\/a>, a marketing and sales organization for real estate developers. \u201cThe market in downtown Miami has been principally dominated by Argentineans, then Brazilians, then Venezuelans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Increasing numbers of Venezuelans are pouring money into American real estate, seeking a safe haven for their wealth from political and financial uncertainty back home. Teplitzky says many of her South American clients, who also include Colombians and Argentineans, seek out rental units, especially in Miami. \u201cThe new landlords in Florida are South Americans and their tenants are Americans,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

Spiegelman says Europeans, particularly French, have been buying more in southern Florida in recent months as well. \u201cThe real attraction here is cheap, cheap, cheap waterfront real estate: these buyers look at this and think it will never be as cheap again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the uncertainties of the European Union\u2019s fiscal crisis, many wealthy Europeans are desperately trying to\u00a0shed their euro zone homes<\/a>\u00a0and reinvest that money in American real estate. A growing number of brokers, like Italian-born Richard Tayar of\u00a0Keller Williams NYC<\/a>, cater to clients looking to do that.<\/p>\n

French and Argentineans have become a notable part of the buyer pool in New York City as well. In the luxury condo building Trump SoHo, Argentineans have accounted for the second largest number of sales this year. \u201cArgentina is an unsung element of our demographic base,\u201d says Amy Williamson, vice president of sales for the\u00a0Prodigy Network<\/a>. She says Mexicans and Peruvians have been very active also, particularly at the higher price points.<\/p>\n

South Koreans have quietly been scooping up investment properties in the New York metro area.\u00a0 Brokers like Martin Chung, a senior vice president atCorcoran Group<\/a>, are looking to market to them, printing up property postcards in Korean.<\/p>\n

Sang Oh, president of Asia operations for\u00a0Platinum Properties<\/a>, just returned from a month in South Korea, where he pitched prospective clients a new development called Sky View Parc in Flushing, Queens. \u201cKorean buyers have come back on very strong in the past year and a half,\u201d notes Oh. He says most buyers he deals with want to be landlords. With rents up 40% from 2002 to 2008 in Flushing, it\u2019s the reason he\u2019s peddling Sky View Parc. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot more interest in areas that you wouldn\u2019t have thought of \u2014 tertiary markets like Flushing, Long Island City, areas of Brooklyn.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the West Coast, Asians have been busy buying homes as well. In addition to the Chinese, Singaporeans, Indonesians and Malaysians have been active, says Christophe Choo, a Los Angeles-area luxury real estate broker with\u00a0Coldwell Banker Previews International<\/a>. They typically want new construction, particularly condos, that they can use as pied-a-terres.<\/p>\n

Armenians and Croatians \u2013 many under the age of 30\u2013 are plunking down millions for homes too. \u201c[Armenian nationals] are very similar in ideals and philosophies to Russia,\u201d asserts Choo. \u201cThey are on a major spree, buying large properties for family compounds that they buy, tear down and build major homes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you’re interested in buying, leasing, or selling property please contact me (310)402-8181\/jkryukova@gmail.com<\/p>\n

www.juliekproperties.com\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: FORBES Online<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russian billionaires have been making headlines for snapping up some of the most opulent homes in the United States. Yuri Milner \u2018overpaid\u2019 by 100%\u00a0on a $100 million Silicon Valley mansion in 2011. Dmitry Rybolovlev\u2019s\u00a0daughter\u00a0bought an $88 million penthouse\u00a0in New York City (after spending $100 million on Donald Trump\u2019s Palm Beach palace in 2008). This week, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[156,11,2],"tags":[408,1115,157,409,224,225,75,410,411,412,101,367,413,414,415,416,240,368,369],"class_list":["post-1238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beverly-hills-real-estate","category-hollywood-hills-real-estate","category-real-estate-news-tips","tag-beverly-hills-expert","tag-beverly-hills-real-estate","tag-beverly-hills-real-estate-agent","tag-beverly-hills-russian-realtor","tag-hollywood-hills-real-estate-expert","tag-hollywood-hills-realtor","tag-julie-kryukova","tag-la-russian-realtor","tag-luxury-los-angeles-properties","tag-real-estate","tag-real-estate-west-hollywood","tag-russian-real-estate-agent","tag-russian-real-estate-expert","tag-russian-speaking-real-estate-agent","tag-russian-speaking-real-estate-agent-in-los-angeles","tag-russian-speaking-real-estate-agent-los-angeles","tag-west-hollywood-realtor","tag-west-hollywood-russian-real-estate-agent","tag-west-hollywood-russian-realtor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/juliemeggat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/juliemeggat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/juliemeggat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/juliemeggat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/juliemeggat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/juliemeggat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/juliemeggat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/juliemeggat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/juliemeggat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurus.net\/juliemeggat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}