This is becoming a bit of a regular happening; we hear constantly about how this group or that group prefers to buy homes and live in the city, and then when the actual numbers come out, the suburbs remain the most popular choice for the majority. This time, it is foreign buyers that are picking the suburbs over the city (and anywhere else for that matter) as 48 percent of foreign buyers bought property in a suburban area, according to the National Association of Realtor’s 2016 Profile of International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate.
Cities came next at 29 percent, followed by small towns/rural areas at 14 percent and resort areas at 8 percent. Since 2009, the suburbs have always had the largest share and cities have had the second largest share. Small towns/rural areas and resort areas flipped positions in 2014 when small towns began outpacing resort areas.
Foreign buyers preferred suburbs regardless of their home country, as well, although, there was a bit more variance in the totals. 38 percent of buyers from Canada preferred suburban areas, but where Canadians bucked the trend was with their second most preferred area; resorts. 31 percent of Canadian buyers preferred resort areas.
Chinese, Indian, Mexican, and British buyers preferred the suburbs at rates of 64 percent, 67 percent, 39 percent, and 37 percent respectively. Each of these countries’ buyers followed the trend of having central city/urban areas as the second most preferred destination.
For the Economists’ Outlook blog’s full breakdown of the report, follow the link below.
