Property in the USA

A star-spangled start to a new life, holiday home, or retirement?

It will probably come as no surprise to learn that the United States is one of the world’s most popular destinations for overseas-based property investors. From April 2016 to March 2017, foreign buyers purchased US$153 billion of residential property compared to US$102.6 billion during the previous 12-month period. Even 2016’s shock election of President Donald Trump has seemingly failed to halt the interest that overseas investors have in US-based property

Most US property experts still believe that Trump’s presidency is unlikely to have too much of an impact on the country’s appeal among overseas property investors, despite initial concerns. Of course, there will be many who swear blind they will not invest in the country while such a controversial figure remains at its helm, but there will be just as many who are lured to the country on the promise of potentially more affordable property prices.

This is particularly the case for Asian investors, for whom the weakening US Dollar has proved to be a real boon. National Association of Realtor (NAR) figures released in July 2017 show that China is comfortably the top country of origin for foreign buyers in the US, followed by Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and India. While many experts believe that interest from Canadian and British purchasers may wane over the coming year or two, it is believed that this drop will be more than supplemented by a rise in interest from Asian investors.

Two things could halt the foreign-owned property invasion: Trump’s clampdown on immigration; and the looming trade wars. However, with the luxury housing market in America particularly dependent on foreign investors from all across the globe, it does seem unlikely that President Trump will want to rock the boat too much in this respect. He is a businessman, after all.

After a turbulent time in the wake of the global financial crash of the late noughties, the US housing market has slowly but surely recovered to levels close to those in 2007, pre-Lehman Brothers collapse.

November 2017 data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed that existing-home sales surged for the third straight month in November and reached their strongest pace in almost 11 years. Average property values nationwide were up by 5.6 percent in November 2017, compared to the same month a year earlier. What’s more, all major regions except for the West – where property prices tend to be highest – saw a significant hike in sales activity.

And the NAR isn’t the only organisation noting a rapidly improving property market. CoreLogic’s House Price Index showed home prices increased 7 percent from November 2016 to November 2017 and jumped 1 percent from October to November. What’s more, the same index predicts that house prices nationally will increase by 4.2 percent between November 2017 and November 2018.

Of course, rising property prices won’t necessarily sound like great news for those hoping to invest in the country soon, but it’s important to remember that these rises are coming on the back of some extremely steep falls. Property in the country still remains largely affordable – especially compared to the UK, for example, and there are still many bargains to be had, even in the areas most popular with investors.