What Foreign Buyers Are Investing Most in Miami?

Miami industrial is still heating up.

MIAMI—Some have been concerned that foreign investment is slowing, especially on the condo front. The truth is there’s still plenty of foreign capital coming into the market—and Colombia is leading the charge. That’s according new data from the MIAMI Association of REALTORS. Colombia nation finished as the top international country using MIAMI’s search portal, www.Miamire.com, in April 2016. That makes five months in a row. “South Florida is known around the world for embracing all cultures,” says Mark Sadek , the 2016 MIAMI chairman of the board. “Foreign-born residents love Miami. Their passion is visible in our monthly property searches and in Realtor.com global searches, which continue to show South Florida as the most-searched U.S. market by international consumers.” Colombians moving to South Florida are often upper-middle-class families who want to enjoy their prosperity earned in their homeland as professionals and entrepreneur, according to the report. Colombians spend the second-most on South Florida property among foreign buyers. The $516,000 average purchase price of Colombians tied with Argentina and only trailed Brazil ($766,000), according to the 2015 survey. Beyond Colombia, the new rankings reveal surging interest from Israel and India, along with new domestic leader. The report reveals Israel posted the fourth-most searches of South Florida real estate in April, marking the nation’s highest finish since it took fourth in September 2015. India finished sixth for the second consecutive month. Venezuela and Argentina took the second and third spots, respectively. Canada, Philippines, Spain and Peru also made the top 10 list. Noteworthy is the fact that Georgia registered the most searches of Miami real estate among US states. New York is second, followed by Texas, California, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, North Carolina and Michigan. Foreign investors are also flocking to Orlando vacation homes . “In the near term, the job market continues to remain strong despite the devaluation of foreign currencies,” Mike Nunziata , division president for 13^th Floor Homes, tells GlobeSt.com. “ However, given our region’s strong reliance on tourism as an economic driver, we could see some ripple effects should global tourism decline. Fortunately, that does not seem to be the case at least for now. In fact, according to data released by the Governor’s office, 105 million tourists visited Florida in 2015, marking the fifth consecutive year of record tourism growth.”