Canadians have cut back on their purchase of US homes in the past year according to newly released data.
The National Association of Realtors says that Canadians spent U$10.5 billion on US homes in the 12-month period to the end of March 2018. That’s a 45% drop from the previous 12 months.
In volume terms, Canadians bought 27,400 units.
Overall, the US saw a 21% decline in international purchases of its residential real estate as rising interest rates and low inventory weighed.
A total of $121 billion was spent by foreign buyers, who made up just 8% of buyers of $1.6 trillion worth of existing homes. That was a 10% decline year-over-year.
"After a surge in 2017, we saw a decrease in foreign activity in the housing market in the latest year, bringing us closer to the levels seen in 2016," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. "Inventory shortages continue to drive up prices and sustained job creation and historically low interest rates mean that foreign buyers are now competing with domestic residents for the same, limited supply of homes."
The largest buyers of US homes were the Chinese, with $30.4 billion of purchases.
The survey once again showed that foreign buying activity is mostly limited to three states, as Florida (19%), California (14%) and Texas (9$) remained the top three destinations for foreign buyers to purchase, followed by Arizona and New York (both 5%).
