The U.S. housing market just keeps getting more unaffordable—and more difficult to break into. Home prices continue to rise along with elevated mortgage rates, a deadly combination for many hopeful homebuyers. And international buyers have caught on.
Foreign buyers purchased 36% fewer properties between April 2023 and March 2024, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Wednesday. They bought 54,300 properties, which is the fewest number of homes bought since 2009 when NAR began tracking this data. Not only did they purchase fewer homes, but the amount spent on these homes was considerably less. Foreign buyers purchased $42 billion worth of U.S. existing homes last year, more than a 21% drop from the previous year.
