Foreign buyers dropped $4.3 billion on Texas homes as rates rose

Texas is already one of the most popular destinations for Americans moving within the country, but according to a report from Texas Realtors, it is a leading spot for foreign homebuyers too. 

International homebuyers spent $4.3 billion on Texas homes between April 2022 and March 2023, according to the report. The nearly 10,000 homes they purchased account for nearly 3 percent of total homes sold in the state and almost 4 percent of total dollar volume. 

While the median value of these homes was $320,800, which is slightly below the median in Texas, the average was $446,100. That suggests that, while most international buyers purchased homes that were less valuable than the typical Texan home, a number of them bought significantly more expensive homes, increasing the average

About half of the purchases were all-cash, suggesting that the buyers were able to make their deals without mortgages. That is significant, as homebuying has slowed in the last year amid the higher interest-rate and mortgage rate environment. 

Texas was the third most popular state for international buyers, bringing in 11.7 percent of the deals. That’s well behind Florida, which accounted for 23 percent, and narrowly less than California, which pulled 12.2 percent

Some 41 percent of those buyers came from Mexico, 8 percent from China, and 5 percent from Venezuela. Indian and Nigerian buyers also accounted for a significant number of the purchases. In all, 61 percent were already living in the U.S. on visas.

The Texas Legislature nearly passed a bill last session that would have greatly limited some foreign entities from buying land in the state. A bill passed by the Texas Senate would have banned entities from any country that “poses a risk to the national security of the United States” from buying agricultural land, timberland and oil and gas rights in Texas. 

The plan, authored by Republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, never passed in the Texas House of Representatives. It was originally far broader. In its initial form, the bill sought to block dual citizens or businesses associated with China, Iran, North Korea or Russia from buying any land in Texas.

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