Foreign homebuyers add $6.6B to Texas economy

​​AUSTIN – International home sales added $6.6 billion to the Texas economy from April 2019 to March 2020, according to Texas Realtors’ Texas International Homebuyers Report.

Texas was third in the U.S. for homes sold to international buyers, behind Florida and California. Around 13,900 Texas homes were sold to foreign buyers, 9 percent of the 154,000 homes sold to foreign homebuyers nationally​​. ​

Eight percent of home sales in Texas were from international homeowners.

The U.S. saw a 16 percent decline in the number of foreign-buyer purchases compared with the last reporting period.

"Texas continues to enjoy strong international real estate sales activity. From relocations to commercial or residential, foreign buyers choose Texas because of our resilient economy, job availability, investment opportunities, and friendly business climate," said Texas Realtors Chairman Cindi Bulla. "Despite the slight drop in foreign buyers compared with the previous reporting period, Texas remained a top state for international buyers, particularly those coming from Latin America."

According to the report, 42 percent of international buyers in Texas came from Latin America/Caribbean. Texas was also a top destination for international homebuyers from Mexico and Brazil. 

Of all U.S. homebuyers from Mexico, 28 percent purchased a home in Texas. The next closest state, California, had 14 percent of the total homebuyers from Mexico. 

Twelve percent of buyers from Brazil chose Texas, tying for second with Minnesota and behind only Florida. 

Texas accounted for 9.5 percent​​ of new immigration in the United States in 2018.

Two Texas metros—No. 5 Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land and No. 9 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington—were among the top ten destinations for immigration in the country​.

On the commercial side of international real estate transactions, Texas was the third-most popular destination for buyers who work with Realtors, according to the 2020 Commercial Real Estate International Business Trends report from the National Association of Realtors.​

The Real Estate Center has a wealth of economic information online for free.