Latest news with #foreignbuyers
New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
Foreign Buyers Are Fleeing the South Florida Condo Market
Foreign buyers have long powered South Florida's condo market, but many are now pulling out because of high interest rates, expensive prices and, more recently, restrictive immigration policies. The Miami Association of Realtors reports that home sales to foreign buyers dropped to 10 percent of all transactions in the region from August 2023 to July 2024, the lowest level since 2015 and a stark drop from 50 percent in 2018. The study polled nearly 2,400 real estate agents in South Florida's Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties. Foreign buyers were defined as those who were not U.S. citizens and whose primary residence was abroad, as well as U.S. visa holders for at least six months and green card holders for less than two years. Most foreign buyers in South Florida come from Latin America, with that region accounting for nearly 60 percent of buyers last year. They've been attracted not just by Florida's year-round sun, but because real estate investments in the United States were considered safe from the prying hands of their home governments. After South Florida's housing bubble burst in 2007, international buyers flooded in to take advantage of reasonable prices and low interest rates. 'During the Great Recession, foreign buyers bailed out the South Florida condo market,' said Peter Zalewski, an independent condo analyst based in Miami. Covid-19 changed the calculus. South Florida became one of the nation's hottest and priciest markets when American buyers, desperate to escape pandemic restrictions, gobbled up the supply. Meanwhile, rising interest rates and a strong dollar drove down foreign demand. Foreign Buyers Step Back Foreign buyers have long dominiated in South Florida, but the their share of the market as measured in dollars has fallen to the lowest point since 2015. Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Foreign buyer share 37% 29% 44% 50% 38% 32% 14% 17% 18% 10% Year Foreign buyer share 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 10% 18% 17% 14% 32% 38% 50% 44% 29% 37% Source: Miami Association of Realtors By The New York Times After the deadly 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building in the Miami suburb of Surfside, Florida's legislature passed laws requiring condo owners to pay for costly renovations. Faced with expensive assessments, sellers flooded the market to record levels, data from Redfin shows. But this time, foreign buyers are unlikely to come to the rescue, as President Trump's immigration and tariff policies have rattled global markets. 'Not only are they still dealing with the currency issue, but add in the immigration policy and the disrespect,' Mr. Zalewski said. 'It's a real conundrum for condo sellers.'
Independent Singapore
27-05-2025
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Savills: Singapore private home prices could rise up to 7% amid strong demand and record-high new launches
Photo: Freepik (for illustration purposes only) SINGAPORE: Private home prices in Singapore could go up by as much as 7% in 2025, according to Savills Singapore. The real estate firm said strong demand and new project launches with record-high prices are the main reasons for the expected increase, Singapore Business Review reported. Private home prices went up 0.8% in the first quarter of 2025, after a bigger 2.3% increase in the last quarter of 2024. The firm noted that while sales have slowed since April due to economic uncertainties like the US tariff policies, prices have kept rising. Savills said the price resilience is holding up because of baby boomers with strong finances and the narrowing gap between HDB resale prices and private home prices. The firm expects price growth may accelerate in the coming months as new project launches with record-high prices enter the market. While overall sales fell in Q1, private home purchases by Singapore permanent residents (PRs) went up by 2.1% from the previous quarter. This was the second quarter in a row that PRs bought more private homes, making up 13.9% of all non-landed private home sales, up from 13.3% in Q4 2024. See also 141 HDB resale flats sold for at least $1 million in April Meanwhile, sales by Singapore citizens dropped by 2.6% after four straight quarters of growth. Foreign buyers pulled back the most, dropping by 17.6%, with their market share hitting a new low of just 1%, the lowest level seen since the Urban Redevelopment Authority started tracking the data. The firm said the drop in foreign demand was mainly due to the higher Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) introduced in the second quarter of 2023, along with wider global uncertainties. The real estate firm remains cautiously optimistic about the market, particularly in well-located and suburban areas, noting that controlled land supply and strong market fundamentals are contributing to stable and sustainable growth. While there was a slight drop in transaction volumes, Savills noted that demand remains strong, providing long-term value opportunities for homeowners and investors. /TISG Read also: More private property owners downsize to qualify for Silver Housing Bonus; enhancement expanded to private homes with seniors
CNA
25-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Foreign interest rises as China's low-altitude economy expo signals sector expansion
China's focus on the low-altitude economy is taking flight. Industry partners tell CNA that they've seen more interest from foreign buyers this year, despite the US tariffs. Deborah Wong reports.
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Spain pushes ahead with plan to hit Brits with 100% holiday home tax - DOUBLING the price of a property purchase - to tackle housing crisis
Spain 's government is going ahead with a controversial plan to slam Brits with a 100% tax on holiday homes in order to tackle a growing housing crisis. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez 's Socialist party presented the plan to the country's Parliament yesterday, in which non-EU residents would have to effectively pay double for properties in the country. The bill aims to promote 'measures that enable access to housing, since we are facing one of the largest problems our society is currently confronted with', Bloomberg reported. Brits are the biggest buyers of Spanish properties outside of native Spaniards, making up 8.2% of deals. The plans were first announced by Sanchez in January, amid massive malcontent over rising prices and dwindling housing stock that many in Spain felt was caused by foreign buyers snapping up homes. In 2023 alone, non-EU residents bought 27,000 properties in Spain. The bill, if passed, won't affect businesspeople or professional workers. But it would increase VAT on short term rentals and also increase taxes on publicly listed real estate investment trusts, as well as apply a tax on houses that sit empty. It is not currently known whether Sanchez will be able to pass the law through the country's parliament. He has, since forming his latest government in 2023, struggled to pass legislation. The Spanish leader is currently the head of a minority coalition, and will need the support of at least eight parties to pass laws, something that he rarely achieves. It comes after Spain ordered Airbnb to remove more than 65,000 holiday homes from its platform as part of a crackdown on illegal listings. The country's Consumer Rights Ministry said the listings violated existing rules, according to Reuters. Many of the banned listings do not include a licence number and some do not specify whether they're run by an individual or corporation, said the Ministry. Pablo Bustinduy, Spain's Consumer Rights Minister, said: 'No more excuses. Enough with protecting those who make a business out of the right to housing in our country.' The minister said his goal was to end the 'lack of control' and 'illegality' in the holiday rental industry. Spain is currently facing a housing crisis as construction has failed to keep up with demand. According to official data, Spain had about 321,000 homes listed as holiday rentals in November 2024. That's a 15 per cent increase from 2020 while there are thought to be many more that operate without an official licence.
Telegraph
23-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Spain pushes ahead with 100pc tax raid on holiday homes
Spain is pushing ahead with plans to hit British people with a 100pc tax when buying holiday homes in a bid to tackle the country's growing housing crisis. A bill presented to the Spanish parliament by Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister, seeks to promote 'measures that enable access to housing, since we are facing one of the largest problems our society is currently confronted with,' Bloomberg reported. Mr Sánchez first revealed plans to tax non-EU citizens in January in an attempt to curb growing discontent about surging real estate prices and housing shortages. At the time, he said that foreign buyers had bought thousands of properties 'not to live in, but to make money from them'. 'Which, in the context of the shortage that we are in, we obviously cannot allow,' he told an economic forum in Madrid. Figures provided by Mr Sánchez showed that 27,000 non-EU residents bought properties in Spain in 2023. In total, foreigners make up 15pc of the housing market, with UK citizens leading the way in coastal areas such as the Costa del Sol, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. EU citizens, including Germans and the Dutch, who also make up a significant proportion of foreign buyers in Spain, will be exempt. The bill faces hurdles in order to get approved in Parliament, where Mr Sánchez does not hold a majority. He has been leading a minority coalition since 2023 and needs support from about eight parties when he wants to pass legislation. The proposed bill outlines that the tax will not affect foreign businessmen or professional workers based in Spain. This could potentially shield expat workers. In Spain, people are classed as non-residents if they live in the country for less than 183 days in a year. The proposed law follows similar schemes in Canada and New Zealand. The bill also seeks to increase VAT on short-term rentals and raise taxes on publicly-listed real estate investment trusts. It also seeks to set a levy on houses that are empty. Iain Michael Tozer, who runs an estate agency in Barcelona, said there had already been a negative impact on buyers because of the uncertainty surrounding the law. 'There has been a negative impact on some buyers, but more due to the uncertainty around it, not due to the idea of the tax itself,' he said. 'What they did was they announced they were going to apply up to 100pc tax for foreign buyers, but they didn't really say which one. 'That caused a double effect. People hesitate because they think 'am I going to get a 100pc tax on the whole property'. When they speak to agents, we clarify that it can't be that, it'll be on the closing tax.' There are two closing taxes in Spain: one is VAT, which is at 10pc and the other is transfer tax (ITP). When property is bought in Spain, transfer tax paid on second-hand properties – generally between 6.5pc and 12pc of the purchase price – is decided at a regional level. Mr Tozer added that he did not think the proposed bill would solve the housing crisis. 'The people that buy properties overseas are either very high-end or condominium-style properties in Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol where there's a lot of supply in property and it's not the type of property your average Spanish family is going to buy.' Central and local authorities have spent years clamping down on holiday rentals under intense public pressure from anti-tourist activists. The country's consumer rights ministry recently ordered Airbnb to remove more than 65,000 holiday homes from its platform as part of a crackdown on illegal listings. Many of those who were banned were operating without a licence number, while it was unclear whether others were run by individuals or a company, the ministry said. The clampdown came as activists ramped up protests against over-tourism ahead of the summer seasons. Organisers in the Canary Islands said that 100,000 demonstrators took part in a protest against tourism in Tenerife's capital city, Santa Cruz, on Sunday. The cost of an average rental property in Spain has doubled in the past decade, figures show, with Spain the world's second most popular tourist destination after France. Mr Sánchez said earlier this year that 'there are too many Airbnbs and not enough homes', and vowed to prevent the 'uncontrolled' expansion of holiday homes. Individual councils have also begun to act. Barcelona City Hall said it would eliminate 10,000 short-term tourist apartments by the end of 2028. In the Canary Islands, Ibiza, and Murcia, authorities have reached agreements with Airbnb to ensure property owners comply with tourist rules, including having proper licences.
