Foreign buyers of U.S. homes pull back as New York drops from top five
NAR says overseas buyers bought $45.3 billion of existing U.S. homes, while more wealthy Americans are looking abroad.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
4 min read
Foreign buyers of U.S. homes sharply reduced purchases in the year through March 2026, according to the National Association of Realtors, a pullback that matters because it came even as a softer dollar should have made U.S. property cheaper for many overseas buyers.
NAR said international buyers spent $45.3 billion on existing U.S. homes from April 2025 through March 2026, down 19.1% from the prior year. The group counted 67,100 purchases by foreign buyers, down from 78,100, marking the second-lowest transaction total since NAR began tracking the data in 2009.
The median purchase price was $465,000, according to NAR. Canada accounted for 16% of purchases by volume, putting it back in the top spot, while China, the prior year’s dollar-volume leader, fell to third in purchase count.
Why are foreign buyers buying fewer U.S. homes?
Matt Christopherson, NAR’s director of business and consumer research and the author of the report, told Fortune that the decline did not fit the usual currency pattern. He said foreign buyers had more purchasing power because of exchange rates, yet many still chose to wait.
Christopherson attributed some of the hesitation to uncertainty after a year of changes in trade policy and state-level property ownership rules. He told Fortune that some investors appeared to be holding back until they had more confidence they could keep properties and proceed with investments.
NAR also tracked people who wanted to buy but did not complete a purchase. Christopherson said the two most common reasons were being unable to find the right property and costs.
Which states are foreign buyers choosing?
Florida remained the largest destination for international buyers, drawing 20% of purchases, according to NAR. California followed at 19%, and Texas ranked third at 12%.
New Jersey and Georgia each drew 4%, placing them in the top five. Christopherson told Fortune those states are not usually in that group.
New York, long a regular presence in or near the top five, fell out of the leading states. Christopherson told Fortune he was surprised by New York’s drop.
The report arrived as New York City’s Department of Finance, under Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration, published a searchable database of properties that may be covered by the city’s new pied-à-terre tax. The database includes names and addresses tied to non-primary residences valued at $1 million or more, according to Fortune.
City Hall projects the tax could generate as much as $500 million a year, while the comptroller’s office estimates a lower range of $340 million to $380 million, Fortune reported. Critics cited by Fortune called the database a doxxing exercise and said it appeared to include shopping centers and modest homes along with high-end properties.
Are wealthy Americans also looking abroad?
NAR’s report also found interest moving in the other direction. About one in ten NAR respondents reported U.S. clients searching for property overseas, and 52% of those buyers paid cash, compared with 48% of foreign buyers purchasing U.S. property.
Mexico and Portugal were the top two destinations for Americans buying abroad, with Canada third, according to NAR. Christopherson told Fortune the attitude among some buyers was that they could get more for their money in those markets.
Citi Wealth executive Darlene Patterson told Fortune earlier in July that U.S. clients had begun asking to book assets outside the United States, something she said she had not seen before in her career. Patterson described the shift as diversification and said clients were seeking additional options through residencies or golden visas, citing policy risk and a desire for a stable political environment.
Citi Wealth’s “Wealth Beyond Borders” report projects $3.06 trillion moving into hubs including Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates between 2025 and 2029. A UBS Global Family Office survey cited by Fortune found 60% of family offices planned major asset-allocation changes in the next year, with nearly 30% cutting or considering cutting dollar-denominated holdings.
Nuri Katz of Apex Capital Partners told Fortune in June that more ultrawealthy Americans were seeking options abroad. A survey commissioned by his firm found 61% of Americans earning more than $200,000 would consider leaving the U.S. within five years, while nearly 63% had considered diversifying assets outside the country.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.