Foreign buyers pull back from U.S. homes as luxury new-build demand holds in Irvine

Foreign buyers U.S. homes purchases declined sharply in the latest annual measure, a sign that overseas demand has softened across the existing-home market. For investors watching homebuilders, the important qualifier is that the data do not track new construction, where an analyst sees a more resilient, but localized, luxury segment.

Foreign buyers closed on about 67,100 U.S. existing homes from April 2025 through March 2026, down 14% from the prior 12 months, according to the National Association of Realtors. Dollar volume fell 19% to about $45.3 billion from $56 billion a year earlier, Real Estate News reported, citing the trade group’s data.

The transaction count was the second-lowest since NAR began tracking the measure in 2009, CNBC reported. The median foreign-buyer sale price was $465,000.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said the pullback mirrored a drop in international visitors and tourists to the United States. He said a slightly weaker U.S. dollar, which can improve overseas buyers’ purchasing power, did not bring more activity.

Why do luxury homebuilders still attract foreign buyers?

The available evidence does not show that luxury new-home demand is strong across the country. NAR’s figures cover existing homes and exclude newly built properties, a category with no specific national foreign-buyer sales data because it is harder to track.

Scott Wild, a principal at John Burns Research & Consulting, told CNBC that international purchases of new homes have also declined recently. Still, he described the luxury tier as relatively strong and pointed to Irvine, California, where out-of-county buyers continue to support the luxury new-home market.

Wild said affluent Chinese buyers, many paying cash, are a notable part of that demand in Irvine. He said local builders market their highest-priced communities internationally. Those observations are market commentary from a specific city, rather than a nationwide measurement of luxury-home sales.

Among large publicly traded builders, Wild identified Toll Brothers as having the strongest overall brand with foreign buyers. He said the company markets luxury homes internationally and adapts model homes for particular buyer groups. That assessment is not company-reported foreign-sales data or a market-share ranking.

Foreign demand varies by buyer and country

International buyers should not be treated as one group, Wild said. The market includes wealthy investors, households seeking U.S. residency and skilled professionals relocating for work, each facing different economic and policy pressures.

Wild said the largest decline has come among highly skilled workers using H-1B and similar employment-based visas. He linked their uncertainty to shifts in immigration and visa policy, particularly in technology-focused markets where those workers have been significant new-home buyers.

Canadians accounted for 16% of international U.S. home purchases, up from 14% a year earlier, according to CNBC’s account of NAR data. Mexican buyers moved ahead of Chinese buyers by transaction count, while Chinese buyers spent the most, reflecting greater luxury-home purchases, especially in California. Yun said Florida remained the leading destination for foreign buyers.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.