Extracts from an article features in the
NAEA Magazine
dated September 2007

British buyers still flocking to Florida

While the international media dramatically reports on price crashes in the Florida
property market and suggests new investment locations such as former eastern bloc
countries, the Florida market still holds its own with British buyers.  This is not just an
optimistic realtor's view, nor is it that of a hopeful NAEA member who just got started
on a successful journey into real estate in the Sunshine State before prices and
enthusiasm tumbled. 

The National Association of REALTORS says that 21% of overseas buyers in Florida
are from the UK.  Their new research document: Profile of international Home Buyers
in Florida (http://www.floridarealtors.org/LegislativeCenter/Research/upload/2007_
Florida_International_Buyers1.pdf) reveals that not everyone panics when property
prices fail to rise spectacularly.

In 2005, the Research Division of the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) in concert
with the Florida Association of REALTORS, first studied the extent of home buying activity in
Florida by foreigners.  The research results indicated that 15% of all home transactions in
the state between May 2004 and May 2005 involved a buyer from a foreign country.  At the time,
during the height of the real estate boom, it was the first empirical study of its kind to help
quantify the then widespread anecdotal stories of a foreign home-buyer presence in the
Sunshine State.

But times changed.  By the end of 2006 the housing boom was over.  Many areas that had experienced record home sales and record home price appreciation were facing a slowdown
in housing, including Florida.  The question now is: has that slowdown impacted foreign home buying activity in the state?  Do foreign buyers purchase homes for different reasons than
citizens or permanent US residents?  Are they more likely to take out a mortgage loan to
finance their home purchase?

Buyers of Florida residential real estate still come from many different countries but the largest proportion of foreign buyers in Florida - 21% - was from the United Kingdom.  Single-family
detached homes or town houses are still the number one residential property of choice for international buyers.  60% of foreign buyers purchased a single-family home.  International home buyers in Florida were more likely to purchase a condominium/co-op (40%) than were buyers in general (11%).  

Foreign buyers in Florida purchased their homes to use either as a vacation property (39%)
or for both vacation and rental purposes (37%).  Nearly one quarter purchased the property for investment/rental purposes. 

US visa rules only allow non-residents (unless under a student or work visa) to remain in
the country for six months.  Because foreign buyers are, by definition, non-residents of the US,
most of them plan to spend less than 6 months in the Florida home they purchased. Interestingly,
US visa rules were a point of contention among many respondents.  They claimed that the 6
month stay restriction is insufficient for some potential foreign buyers - particularly among those
who are no longer working.  A retirement visa of some sort that permits a longer continuous stay
in the US would undoubtedly enlarge the pool of potential international buyers.