Much of the recent increase in Florida home sales can be attributed to foreign buyers. These investors are cash buyers and can usually only purchase homes because of this; otherwise they are excluded from financing because of their nationality.
"Sixty percent of our buyers are foreign," said Joe Milton, president and chief executive of J. Milton & Associates in Coral Gables. Milton wants to see more financing options for foreigners, as he predicts that real estate investment will increase even more if this happens.
"International buyers are activating this market and reactivating sales," said Jenny Huertas, the international sales director for Condo Vultures, a Bal Harbour brokerage and consultancy company.
Buyers from all over the world are being lured to invest in the United States now that prices have reached a level that they can afford; an opportunity that perhaps hasn't been available in previous years. Gabriela Guinmaraes, a partner with Integra Solutions, a Florida real estate consultancy that works with Brazilian nationals, says, "Investors are aware that assets have never before been so depreciated in a country like America."
For the first time in 30 years, it is actually cheaper to purchase housing in Florida than it is in some Latin American cities says Walter Defortuna, chairman of Fortune International Realty.
As many areas in Central Florida worth only half of what they once were, property is being acquired rather quickly, with the weak dollar also helping to boost investment.
"The Swiss, Spanish, groups from Italy and England who already own some stuff down here are seeing it as a good time to buy, leveraging the economy and the currency effect," said Mike Lapointe, vice president of Baybridge Capital Advisors in Miami.
Although the recession has been a global phenomenon, and foreign investors have been dwindling slightly, they are still more active in the sector than domestic buyers.
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