International interest in American real estate is up for the first time in eight years. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the number of properties purchased by foreigners went up 44% from April 2024 to March 2025, even as high mortgage rates and increasing housing prices have kept some Americans on the sidelines. The dollar volume of these sales hit $56 billion, up 33% from the same period a year ago.
The issues that are keeping domestic buyers back don’t seem to be affecting foreign buyers. So what does this say about the market for U.S. investors?
Why Foreigners Are Snapping Up American Homes
There are several reasons why foreigners might invest in the U.S. Often, it’s because they see the U.S. as a stable place to invest compared to their home countries, Yuval Golan, CEO and founder of real estate financing platform Waltz, said in a conversation with BiggerPockets.
Golan’s company helps foreign investors purchase U.S. homes. In the first two quarters of 2025, 59% of the deals it closed were to refinance. This means many foreigners are looking to buy another property, said Golan.
“Usually, when people want to sell their properties, they don’t refinance,” Golan said.
According to the NAR, most buyers came from China in the April 2024 to March 2025 period, at 15% of foreign purchases, followed by Canada at 14% and Mexico at 8%. India and the U.K. trail behind at 6% and 4%, according to data from the NAR.
For Waltz, most of the interest is from Israel and Canada, Golan said. Many buy property for a vacation home or for their children to live in when they study in the U.S. Others might buy properties as an investment.
Most of the time, they are buying in markets that are already…