September 17, 2013 — Austin
Today, the Texas REALTORS® released the Texas International Homebuyers Report. Based on data from the National Association of REALTORS® and the U.S. Census Bureau, the report showed that international homebuyers contributed over $6.13 billion to the Texas economy between March 2012 and March 2013.
Shad Bogany, chairman of the Texas REALTORS®, commented, “International home sales are a key component to the Texas real estate industry and our economy. In recent years, we’ve seen increasing interest in international real estate opportunities, both international homebuyers purchasing property here in the U.S. and Americans purchasing property internationally.”
International homebuyers accounted for 6.3% of total U.S. home sales between March 2012 and March 2013, totaling $82.5 billion in sales volume. Nine percent, or $6.13 billion, of this figure originated from Texas, making the Lone Star State tied for Arizona for the third-largest state in the U.S. for international home sales.
According to the report, homeownership rates increase with length of tenure in the U.S., rising from about 25% for persons who entered after 2000 to 67% among persons who entered before 1990. Combined with rising immigration rates (37% of immigrants in Texas entered in 2000 or later), these figures indicate that international home sales in Texas are likely to increase significantly over time.
In addition, Texas has the third-largest immigrant population size and six of the top 50 metro areas for immigration in the U.S., accounting for nine percent of all immigrants who migrated to the U.S. and eight percent of all immigrants who became naturalized citizens in 2011.
Chairman Bogany concluded, “As international home sales continue to grow in Texas, the Texas REALTORS® has been working with international real estate associations to provide more educational opportunities for our members and more resources for property owners interested in international markets.”
This report comes one year after the Texas REALTORS® and AMPI, Mexico’s real estate association, signed a historic cross-border partnership agreement to build cooperation and collaboration in real estate throughout the region.