International homebuyers contributed $800 million to the Austin-area economy from April 2019 to March 2020, according to the Central Texas International Homebuyers Report released today by the Austin Board of Realtors.
The report, which was based on a survey of realtors in Central Texas and was conducted alongside the National Association of Realtors, comes at a time in which the region has increasingly become an attractive destination for businesses, workforce talent, university students, and people from across the world.
“The Central Texas region has become a magnet for homebuyers and real estate investors from around the globe,” Romeo Manzanilla, 2020 ABoR president, said. “With one in five Austinites being foreign born, the Austin Board of Realtors is excited to now deliver market statistics on this important and growing segment of our housing market.”
The $800 million in sales from foreign buyers represented 5-percent of all residential sales volume in the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area from April 2019–March 2020. That is slightly higher compared to the national foreign buyer share of 4-percent. The median home price among foreign buyers was $381,030, which is significantly higher than the median sales price of foreign buyers nationally ($314,500) and the Austin-Round Rock median price ($326,500), during the period in which the survey was conducted, ABoR says.
According to the report, the majority of foreign-born Central Texas buyers originated from Mexico, India, China, Australia, and Canada.
“The Central Texas International Homebuyers Report is an important baseline for our evolving market and a valuable tool for businesses interested in building relationships with economic development partners abroad,” Bill Boyd, 2020 Chair of the ABoR Global Advisory Group, said. “This new data also helps connect foreign buyers to a realtor who can lead and facilitate a successful domestic transaction.”
