What Works in the Top Three Markets with International Appeal

By Sheree R. Curry, The Wall Street Journal Online

RISMEDIA, Oct. 16, 2007-Florida, California and Texas topped a 2007 list from the National Association of Realtors about state destinations that attract the most international home buyers. Here are homes in three states that made the top 10 and how they got there.

Place/Price: Arcadia, Fla./$449,900
Taxes*: $1,836
The Property: 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3,067 square feet

Description: This home on 5.89 acres has a large den and has a formal living room with a fireplace. There is an exercise room and a bonus room that could be an office. It has a swimming pool.

Notable: Florida sold homes to 26% of the international home buyers, just ahead of California with 16%. Most of Florida’s international buyers hail from Mexico, the United Kingdom and Canada, reveals the NAR study.

Place/Price: Plano, Texas/$924,000
Taxes*: $20,000
The Property: 5 bedrooms, 5 baths, 4,946 square feet

Description: This home on a corner lot has 25-foot ceilings, faux Venetian plaster in the dining room and faux-leather walls in the study. A wet bar has an encased aquarium. A pool has fountains and a waterfall.

Notable: Texas was the top U.S. state for Mexican home buyers. Many of them purchased for work-related reasons and then would either rent the homes out or use them as vacation homes, says the NAR’s International Home Buying Activity Study.

Place/Price: Tucson, Ariz./$3.99 million
Taxes*: $13,070
The Property: 5 bedrooms, 6½ baths, 7,536 square feet

Description: This 2002 Mediterranean-style stucco home with an elevator has mountain views. A stone fireplace is 25 feet from the floor to ceiling in the living room. Bedrooms with balconies overlook a two-story dining area.

Notable: About 6% of Arizona’s home-buying activity came from foreign transactions. The West had the largest percentage of Asian buyers (44%) and those from Oceania (45%). The typical foreign buyer spends 4.2 months in their U.S. property.

* Taxes are current owner’s payment of builder’s estimate
Sources: realtor.org, macmartinrealty.com, thebuilderswife.com, longrealty.com