Foreign home purchases in the U.S. rose for the first time since 2017, driven largely by Chinese buyers, according to a new National Association of Realtors report.
From April 2024 to March 2025, Chinese investors bought $13.7 billion in existing homes—an 83% jump from the previous year—at an average price of $1.2 million. Most purchases were in high-cost states, with 36% in California and 9% in New York. The ongoing U.S. housing affordability crisis is creating more opportunities for foreign buyers, experts say, as high mortgage rates continue to sideline many American buyers and sellers.
Foreign investors purchased about 78,100 properties from April 2024 to March 2025—a 44% increase from the previous year, though still the second-lowest level since 2009, according to NAR. Realtor.com’s Joel Berner notes that while foreign buyers aren’t directly displacing Americans, they’re capitalizing on reduced domestic demand as American buyers remain on the sidelines due to affordability issues.
“If you look in that NAR report, over half of these international buyers are making cash purchases, because they can. They’re wealthy international folks who are looking at the market in the U.S. right now and seeing there’s not a lot of demand for homes in the U.S.,” Berner said.
The average 30-year mortgage rate has climbed to 6.67%, more than double the 3% rate in late 2021, while home prices have surged 60% since 2019, reaching a record $412,000 in 2024, according to housing data. Despite rising costs, experts say it’s a good time to buy for cash buyers, both domestic and international, as they avoid high borrowing rates.
