U.S. home sales to foreign buyers are declining.
That’s according to a newly released National Association of Realtors report that found the number of U.S. properties purchased by foreign buyers from April 2025 through March 2026 was down 14% from the same 12 months a year earlier.
The $45.3 billion worth of existing homes in the United States sold to buyers from other countries at a median purchase price of $465,000 also represents a 19.1% decrease in the dollar value of their purchases over the same period.
The “2026 International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate” report said the 67,100 homes sold to foreign buyers was the second-lowest number since the national association started tracking such sales in 2009.
The low mark was in 2024, when the number of homes going to buyers from outside the U.S. hit 54,300, Real Estate News reported, calling foreign home buying activity “a shadow of what it was a decade ago,” when sales were more than four times higher.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the national association, noted fewer foreigners are coming to the U.S. The number of international visitors to the U.S. fell last year for the first time since 2020, to 68.3 million last year from 72.3 million in 2024, according to federal data.
Ahead of this year’s FIFA World Cup that did bring many international visitors to U.S. matches, the BBC reported that America was “contending with a mix of bad perception and unpopular policy,” especially around immigration enforcement.
“The decline in foreign homebuyer activity mirrors the decline in international visitors and tourists to the United States,” Yun said. “Even a slightly weaker U.S. dollar over the past year, which provides more purchasing power for foreigners, did not induce more activity.”
Nearly half, 48%, are paying cash, the report said, compared with 28% of U.S. buyers.
While buyers from the border countries of Canada and Mexico purchase the most properties, Yun said those from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan “spent the most dollars because they bought higher-priced homes, specifically in California.”
India and the United Kingdom also accounted for an appreciable number of buyers in the U.S.
The state that’s most popular with buyers from other countries is Florida, accounting for 20% of sales to foreigners. California is close behind, with 19%; followed by Texas, 12%; New Jersey and Georgia, both at 4%, to round out the top 5 states.
A majority of foreign buyers, 56%, either already live in the U.S. or hold visas allowing them to move here, the national association said. Real estate agents told the association that nearly one in five foreign clients who ended up not buying ran into immigration law or visa problems.