Foreign Sales Rise in Top Five Countries; Three States Account for Nearly Half of All Purchases
Buyers from China exceeded all countries by dollar volume of sales at $31.7 billion, which was up from last year’s survey ($27.3 billion) and topped 2015 ($28.6 billion) as the new survey high. Chinese buyers also purchased the most housing units for the third consecutive year (40,572; up from 29,195 in 2016). Rounding out the top five, the sales dollar volume from buyers in Canada ($19.0 billion), the United Kingdom ($9.5 billion), Mexico ($9.3 billion) and India ($7.8 billion) all increased from their levels one year ago.
Julie Nesbitt and Stuart Nesbitt know Northern Virginia real estate.
This year’s survey once again revealed that foreign buying activity is mostly confined to three states, as Florida (22 percent), California (12 percent) and Texas (12 percent) maintained their position as the top destinations for foreigners, followed by New Jersey and Arizona (each at 4 percent). Florida was the most popular state for Canadian buyers, Chinese buyers mostly chose California, and Texas was the preferred state for Mexican buyers.
Allison Nesbitt Johns is a native of Northern Virginia and a graduate of James Madison University. She is a full-time elementary school teacher and helps out at Nesbitt Realty during summer months and other times when school is out of session.
