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Foreign buyers have been the #1 buyers of South Florida real estate for more than a decade. However, for the past few years, there was a tremendous decrease in Latin American buyer’s activity due to inflation and unstable local governments. However, according to the Profile of International Home Buyers Report of 2018, there was a rose of 23% of foreign purchase activity in 2018 compared to 2017. Out of those foreign buyers, Brazilians are in the top of the list.

In the U.S.A Florida is topping the foreign buyer’s list with 19% of the total sales. South Florida (mostly Miami with a 51%) got 54% of all Florida’s foreign home sales (17.6% of the entire country), followed by Orlando (9.4%) and Tampa (9%).

Out of South Florida’s international real estate investors, the top countries buying in Miami are Brazil with a 12%, followed by Colombia with 11%, Venezuela with other 11%, Argentina with 8%, and Canada with 8%. It means that half of the international buyer’s market is propelled by these countries.

The numbers aren’t that different when we filter the research only for Miami-Dade County . The number #1 purchaser is still Brazil with 17%, followed by Venezuela with 13%, Argentina with 10% and Colombia with 9%.

With 8.7 billion of foreign investment in 2018, Miami remains the place with more international customers in the entire country. There was over a billion increase in investment compared to the previous year. Moreover, the average price that foreign buyers paid for a residence is higher than national buyers.

Additionally, the difference between a national vs. a foreign buyer is that international investors try to close deals in cash. In 2018, 58% of South Florida’s foreign buyers paid in cash, compared to 47% cash deals for U.S. citizens. Even more surprisingly, foreign buyers don’t need to visit the house they will later purchase as many times as U.S. customers. Even 5% of them buy a house without visiting it (12% with just one visit, and 27% with 2 showings).

Foreign buyers find extremely pleasant to invest in South Florida, especially in Miami , as it is the most welcoming and diverse city of the U.S. Or at least that is what the stats are showing. Best weather, multilingual and multicultural society, vibrant nightlife, and growing economy. The real question is why not investing here?