Bye-bye, Brazil? Colombians lead property searches in Miami during February

For the third month in a row, Colombians beat out Brazil for the biggest interest in Miami real estate, according to a new report.

The Miami Association of Realtors released its monthly web search report Friday, which ranks countries based on how many property searches each nation makes using the association’s website.

The report found that in February, more Miami property searches originated from Colombia than any other foreign country. February marked the third month in a row that Colombia topped Brazil, which had previously held the No. 1 spot for 15 consecutive months.

Now, even Venezuela is showing more interest in Miami real estate than Brazil, leap-frogging the country to the No. 2 position.

Venezualans actually had the highest share of home purchases out of any foreign country last year, making up roughly 13 percent of the market’s transactions. The country was followed closely by its neighbor Brazil with a 12 percent market share, with Colombia and Argentina tied in third place with 10 percent.

According to the association’s report, home buyers from Colombia are typically upper-middle-class, as their average purchase price worked out to about $516,000 per property.

On the other side of the world, searches from the United Kingdom are slowly growing: the country rose to the No. 7 spot in February, up from No. 8 the month before.

“Despite the strength of the U.S. dollar, international home buyers continue to search, buy and invest in Miami real estate,” Mark Sadek, the association’s 2016 chairman of the board, wrote in the report.

Here’s a list of the top 10 countries for February:
1. Colombia
2. Venezuela
3. Brazil
4. Argentina
5. Philippines
6. Canada
7. United Kingdom
8. India
9. Mexico
10. France