LOS ANGELES — Sales of U.S. homes to Chinese, Canadian and other foreign buyers have fallen to the lowest level in more than a decade, hampered by a strong dollar and more hurdles that have kept the housing market in a deep sales slump for over two years.
Those transactions from April 2023 through March of this year totaled $42 billion, a 21.2% decline from the prior-year period, NAR said.“International buyers face the same difficult market challenges as domestic buyers — lack of inventory, higher mortgage rates, the affordability condition,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “On top of that, for many international buyers the stronger dollar was not in their favor.
On top of those affordability challenges, foreign buyers have to factor in the potential for additional costs when the U.S. dollar is stronger than their currency. The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the value of the greenback relative to a basket of foreign currencies, has risen 3.9% over the past 12 months.
The number of existing U.S. homes purchased by international buyers peaked in the 12 months ended March 2017 at 284,500 properties, according to NAR. That was fueled in part by a surge in Chinese nationals snapping up homes. With many homeowners across Canada facing a sharp rise in mortgage payments, many have decided to bail, resulting in the highest number of Toronto housing units for sale in more than a decade and signaling a big drop in prices in the coming months. Anne Gaviola has this story in Business Matters- for Thursday July 18, 2024.The Atterbury Estate near Southampton’s golf mecca of Shinnecock Hills is a circa-1912 legacy property of almost 30 acres.
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