New research by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) suggests that with nearly one in five Realtors having sold a home to an international client in the past year, our real estate is still looking good to some folk.  

“In this country we have always known that housing is a good long-term investment, and many foreign buyers seem to share this view,” NAR President Pat V. Combs said in a prepared statement.

Most buy for vacation purposes, and about a third of all international buyers are from Europe, but buyers from Asia and North America each represent about one-fourth of the total market. 16% of all international buyers are from Latin America. By individual country, most buyers come from Mexico (13%), the United Kingdom (12%) and Canada (11%).

It would seem that in many cases, the desire is compounded by a week dollar (e.g. Canada, U.K.) or the need to withdraw cash from countries with unstable governments – none mentioned… (cough… Chavez… cough…)

In 2006, most international home buyers showed stronger preferences for condos/apartments when compared to U.S. home buyers (22% vs. 12%) and 28% percent of foreign buyers bought their houses with cash, compared with 8% of U.S. buyers (see comment above… cough…). The median sales price of homes purchased by international buyers was $299,500, higher than the U.S. median of $221,900.

Foreign buyers purchase homes across the United States, but 52% of sales in 2006 were concentrated in the sunbelt states — Florida (26%), California (16%) and Texas (10%). The South attracted nearly half — 49% — of international buyers last year, and 31% purchased homes in the West.

And if you’re really into NAR statistics - you can see NAR’s full report here.