Why Foreign Nationals Keep Betting on American Real Estate
Residential, 2025-26
$45.3B
Year over year
-19.1%
Commercial, 2026 forecast
$562B
Top state
Florida, 20%
Source: National Association of Realtors, International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate reports; Savills 2026 commercial forecast.
Every year, billions of dollars flow into the United States from buyers who were born somewhere else. Some are families chasing a green card. Some are pension funds chasing yield. Some just want a condo in Miami. The pull is the same: American real estate is one of the safest, most liquid, and most trusted places on earth to park capital.
Here is why foreign nationals keep choosing US residential and commercial property, what the latest numbers show, a few strange and wonderful stories from history, and why the smart money still bets on America for decades to come.
The Numbers: How Much Foreign Capital Is Really Flowing In
The scale of foreign investment in US property is enormous, even in a slower year.
- Foreign buyers purchased $45.3 billion worth of existing US homes between April 2025 and March 2026, according to the National Association of Realtors.
- That followed a stronger stretch from April 2024 to March 2025, when international buyers spent $56 billion on US homes, a 33% jump and the first year-over-year increase since 2017.
- On the commercial side, total US property investment reached an estimated $542 billion in 2025, a 39% annual jump. Forecasts point to $562 billion in 2026, nearly matching the pre-pandemic five-year average.
- A 2026 Knight Frank survey found global investors plan to deploy almost $150 billion into US commercial real estate this year, with two-thirds prioritizing new acquisitions.
Even as home-purchase volume cools from last year's record, the US remains the single largest destination for global real estate capital.
Who Is Buying: The Top Countries of Origin
Geography and economics both shape who buys where.
- Canada and Mexico, the two nations bordering the US, purchase the most homes by unit count, drawn by proximity, family ties, and seasonal living.
- China buyers, including those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, spend the most total dollars, favoring higher-priced homes concentrated in California.
- India ranks among the top four sources of foreign buyers, reflecting a growing wave of professionals and investors with US ties.
- Florida remains the top destination state for foreign buyers overall, at roughly 20% of purchases, followed by California at 19% and Texas at 12%.
Why Foreign Nationals Choose American Property
A Safe Haven for Capital
Real estate in the US is viewed as a safe haven asset. It generates stable, dollar-denominated cash flow. For investors from countries with currency volatility or political instability, that stability alone is worth a premium.
Strong, Clear Property Rights
The US places almost no restrictions on foreign ownership of real estate. Buyers can purchase residential or commercial property outright, with full legal title, the same as any American citizen. Many countries cannot say the same.
The Dollar Advantage
The US dollar remains the world's primary reserve currency. Owning dollar-denominated real estate is a natural hedge against inflation or devaluation back home.
A Path to Residency
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program lets qualifying investors put capital into US projects, including real estate developments, that create jobs. In return, investors and their immediate families can become eligible for a green card. Rural and high-unemployment projects currently qualify at a reduced $800,000 investment threshold, making the path more accessible than it once was.
Depth and Liquidity
Few markets offer the sheer range that the US does: single-family homes, luxury condos, office towers, industrial warehouses, hotels, and logistics portfolios. That depth means capital can move in and out relatively easily, which matters enormously to institutional investors.
A Bit of History: Foreign Money and American Icons
Foreign investment in American land is not a new trend. It is basically the origin story.
Legend has it that in 1626, Dutch colonists "purchased" Manhattan Island from the Lenape people for goods worth about 24 dollars. Historians debate the details, but the story has stuck around for four centuries as America's first foreign real estate deal, and arguably its best.
Fast forward to 1989, when Japan's Mitsubishi Estate Company paid $846 million for a 51% stake in Rockefeller Center, one of New York's most famous addresses. The deal sparked headlines about a "Japanese invasion" of American landmarks. It did not end well for Mitsubishi: the deal closed weeks before Japan's stock market crashed, and the complex landed in bankruptcy a few years later. It remains one of the great cautionary tales of trophy-asset investing.
In 2014, China's Anbang Insurance Group bought the legendary Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York for $1.95 billion, then a record price for a single hotel. Anbang poured billions more into renovations. Its chairman was later convicted on corruption charges back in China, and the Chinese government seized control of the company. Even the Waldorf's story is a reminder that American trophy real estate has always attracted big, sometimes dramatic, foreign bets.
Why America's Real Estate Market Will Stay Strong
The case for continued foreign interest is not just sentimental. It is structural.
- A persistent housing shortage. The US has under-built homes for more than a decade relative to population growth, which supports long-term price stability.
- Reserve currency status. As long as the dollar anchors global trade and finance, dollar-denominated real estate stays attractive to global capital.
- Reliable legal infrastructure. Courts, title insurance, and property law in the US are predictable and enforceable, a rare combination worldwide.
- Population and economic growth. Immigration and household formation continue to drive demand for both housing and commercial space.
- Diversification across asset types and geographies. From Sun Belt suburbs to coastal logistics hubs, the US offers foreign capital more places to land than almost any other country.
Foreign buyers are not chasing a fad. They are responding to decades of stability, legal certainty, and a market deep enough to absorb billions in capital without blinking. That combination is difficult to replicate, and it is why the smart money keeps coming back to American soil, one deal at a time.
