According to the NAR survey, 36 per cent of international buyers of properties in Florida in the past year were Canadian, followed by 16 per cent from Latin America, 15 per cent British and 14 per cent from the rest of Europe.
It would appear that a huge drop of up to 70 per cent in Florida property prices in the past three years has increased the Sunshine State's appeal to overseas nationals seeking a holiday home abroad.
Colin Murphy of Torcana Property, which specialises in selling discounted properties in Florida, says that he has seen a big rise in the variety of overseas nationals buying homes in Florida. Torcana has never had a bigger variety of international clients than we have now. For example, we sold 25 properties in Florida to seven different nationalities in October this year in the Sabal Point alone, which included Americans, Canadians, Spaniards, Swedes, Germans and of course, British and Irish buyers.
“Setting aside Florida´s natural strengths as a holiday, retirement and investment destination, the combination of a huge drop in property prices and a weak US dollar are attracting huge numbers of international clients.”
Murphy has also witnessed a significant rise in the number of cash homebuyers in Florida. He adds: “Another key trend we have noticed among our key overseas buyers is the dominance of the cash buyer. “The statistics show that 81 per cent of all international buyers and 73 per cent of UK buyers in Florida in the past year paid for their properties with cash.”