Foreign Homebuyers Are Back — And Texas Is a Favorite Destination

The American Dream still sells, even though it’s increasingly being sold abroad, with foreign homebuyers acquiring billions of dollars in housing stock over the last year or so.

An annual study conducted by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) shows that some $56 billion in homes were purchased by foreigners between April 2024 and March 2025, clocking a 33% increase from the year before.

Digging into the data, the actual number of homes purchased by international buyers spiked by  44%, hitting 78,100 units and marking the first increase since 2017. While this is still below pre-pandemic levels, foreign buyers made up 1.9% of all existing-home transactions and 2.5% of dollar volume.

About 56% of foreign buyers during the period of study were already living in the United States on visas. The remainder were living abroad.

“International interest in buying U.S. real estate increased following the global economic recovery from several years of pandemic-related disruptions,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, according to a news release. “However, elevated home prices and interest rates continue to dampen overall potential sales activity and remain well below pre-pandemic levels.”

Buyers from China led the pack, accounting for $13.7 billion in purchases — more than twice their spending the previous year. Chinese buyers also paid the highest average price: $1.17 million. Coming in behind them were Canadian buyers at $6.2 billion in purchases, followed by buyers from Mexico at $4.4 billion, buyers from India at $2.2 billion, and then buyers from the United Kingdom at $2 billion — to round out the top five.

Notably, 47% of foreign buyers paid in cash, and 47% also said they intended to use the property as a vacation home, rental, or both — more than triple the share among domestic buyers. Those living abroad were more likely to buy condominiums in central cities, while foreign residents tended to opt for single-family homes in suburban areas.

“Boosted by a significant increase in the state’s housing inventory, Florida remained the top destination for foreign homebuyers [21%], extending a streak of at least 15 years,” Yun said.

The two other biggest states in the country made it into the top three homebuying destinations. California came in with 15% of foreign buyers, and Texas clocked 10%. New York came in next at 7%, then Arizona with 5%.

As far as who’s buying houses in the Lone Star State, some 44% of foreign buyers came from Latin America or the Caribbean, and 29% were from Asia or Oceania. Texas was also the top destination among Mexican and Indian buyers.