International homebuyers add $6.13B to Texas economy

TEXAS – International homebuyers contributed over $6.13 billion to the Texas economy between March 2012 and March 2013, according to the National Association of Realtors and the U.S. Census Bureau.

International homebuyers accounted for 6.3 percent of total U.S. home sales between March 2012 and March 2013, totaling $82.5 billion in sales volume.

And $6.13 billion, or 9 percent of the $82 billion, originated from Texas, making the Lone Star State tied with Arizona for the third-largest state in the U.S. for international home sales.

Homeownership rates increase with length of tenure in the U.S., rising from about 25 percent for persons who entered after 2000 to 67 percent among persons who entered before 1990. Combined with rising immigration rates (37 percent of immigrants in Texas entered in 2000 or later), these figures indicate that international home sales in Texas are likely to increase significantly over time.

In addition, Texas has the third-largest immigrant population size and six of the top 50 metro areas for immigration in the U.S., accounting for 9 percent of all immigrants who migrated to the U.S. and 8 percent of all immigrants who became naturalized citizens in 2011.

Read more at the Houston Community Newspapers.