Almost half of all international home buyers in Florida between August 2022 and July 2023 were people from Latin American countries. They were by far the group that bought the most houses, as Northern America (virtually all from Canada) and Europe were second and third, representing 18 and 17 percent of all purchases, respectively.
The figures come from a report by Miami Realtors, which, however, highlights that overall purchases dropped 18 percent inter-annual. Different factors can explain this: one of them is a lower supply, as the report says that Florida's single-family home inventory was still 24 percent lower than February 2020, before the pandemic began.
Another factor can be higher prices: statewide, the the median international sale price for a single-family home reached $417,000, the report said, decreasing $41,000 from 2022's median price of $457,000 but still $68,700 more than the median sale price in 2021.
The combination of factors (more expensive sales but a steep decline in the number of transactions) mean that the overall figure has dropped 18 percent inter-annual, from $15.3 billion to $12.6 billion, in line with 2021 levels.
From Which Latin American countries do buyers come from?
Canada took the first spot with 18 percent of all purchases, but the following three nationalities are Latin American. Colombians bought 10 percent of all properties, while Argentina and Brazil took 7 percent each. Moreover, Venezuelans and Peruvians bought 3 percent of all properties, while 2 percent were Mexicans.
Canadians paid the most overall, with $2.1 billion. "Brazilian buyer dollar volume rose significantly from the previous year to $1.5 billion. Dollar volume decreased for Colombian, Peruvian and Mexican buyers. The stronger dollar and sales declines were likely two of the most important factors in bringing about these declines," reads a paragraph of the report.
Brazilians bought the most expensive properties: The reason for their higher price point of $489,519 was a combination of a preference for detached single-family homes and their focus in more expensive metros such as the Miami Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach MSA," the report said.
"Argentine buyers also flocked to South Florida, but tended to purchase condominiums, which generally have lower prices," the report added. The median purchase price for Argentine buyers was $318,470 in the period," it added.
Most purchases from international buyers were concentrated in South Florida, with 47 percent of them taking place in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area." "In South Florida, 62% of purchases were by buyers from Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by 14% from Europe. The Orlando Kissimmee-Sanford MSA also saw a heavy concentration from Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting for 60% of international purchases."
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