When mortgage financing was still widely available here a few years ago and housing prices kept on racking up steady gains year after year, the foreign purchaser often thought he'd found the ultimate in property ownership. Heck, many Americans thought so, too. Then things on Wall Street and in Washington got out of control and the word meltdown was fast becoming a popular way to describe what happened. Not only to the real estate market but the entire economy. It got ugly.

International real estate buyers learned their lesson pretty quick and have scaled back their enthusiasm toward our product - single-family house, condominium and townhouse - according to a recent NAR, or National Association of Realtors, study. The survey was done for the period of end of May 2008 to end of May 2009. Around 154,000 homes were sold to foreign purchasers during this 12-month time span, down from about the 170,000 measured during the previous study. Actually, that is not all too bad, considering that the recession is global, affecting just about all the key countries from where past activity has hailed from.

Mortgage availability has also played a crucial role in this. Getting well-qualified local borrowers approved is tough enough, so getting the same done with foreign applicants is twice as cumbersome. Mortgage lenders see more risk there and rightfully so. As a result, nearly half of the sales have been cold cash, says NAR. Once banks begin standing steady again, the underwriting guidelines will predictably loosen up, to the delight of everyone.

Florida was again the most attractive destination for international real estate buyers, easily claiming 23% of the market, per NAR. Next came California with 13%, Texas with 10.7% and Arizona at 7.1%.

Las Vegas area likely represents much of Nevada in the survey - offering high-profile Strip condominiums and several popular communities like Summerlin, Henderson, Green Valley, Nevada Trails and Seven Hills - but failed to break into the top four. It must be right there, though, knocking on the door. At least Canadian and Chinese prospects have been busy checking into opportunities here in Las Vegas for vacation home and investment purposes, knowing that prices are nowadays eye-appealing indeed. Mortgage constraints are slowing them down, though.

In all, foreign buyers deem U.S. real estate very positively. It's a desirable location, say 40% of them. 31.8% consider it a profitable investment, although the last few years couldn't support that, but long term it likely is true. So, when the housing market conditions improve to "normal", it's a good bet the foreign buyer will be back as eagerly as before.