Foreign buyers purchased $45.3 billion worth of existing US homes between April 2025 and March 2026, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2026 International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate report — a 19.1% drop in dollar volume and a 14% drop in the number of properties purchased from the prior 12-month period. The 67,100 homes bought is the second-lowest total since NAR began tracking foreign buyer activity in 2009. The median purchase price for foreign buyers was $465,000, and 48% of purchases were all-cash, compared with 28% among all existing-home buyers.
Recent immigrants and visa holders living in the US accounted for 56% of foreign purchases (37,600 homes, $21.8 billion), while buyers residing abroad made up the remaining 44% (29,500 homes, $23.5 billion). Canada returned as the top country of origin by share of purchases (16%, up from 14% a year earlier, 10,700 homes, $5.2 billion), followed by Mexico (14%, 9,400 homes, $5.0 billion) and China (11%, 7,400 homes, but the highest dollar volume at $7.6 billion, reflecting an average purchase price near $1 million). India (9%, 6,000 homes, $3.7 billion) and the UK (4%, 2,700 homes, $1.2 billion) rounded out the top five. Florida remained the top destination (20% of foreign buyers), followed by California (19%), Texas (12%), and New Jersey and Georgia (4% each).
“The decline in foreign home buyer activity mirrors the decline in international visitors and tourists to the United States,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Even a slightly weaker U.S. dollar over the past year, which provides more purchasing power for foreigners, did not induce more activity.” Yun added that high US home prices and tight inventory continue to outweigh favorable exchange rates for prospective foreign buyers, even as Chinese buyers in particular continued to concentrate spending on higher-priced California property.
