South Florida real estate isn’t beckoning foreign buyers like it once did.
The share of residential real estate purchases by foreign buyers in South Florida plunged to 10% during the 2024 fiscal year, the lowest level in a decade and a dramatic decline from 50% in 2018, according to a Miami Association of Realtors report.
The findings were based on responses of nearly 2,400 real estate agents in Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Martin counties to an online survey sent to about 60,000 members. The survey measured purchases from August 2023 to July 2024.
Bonnie Heatzig, South Florida-based executive director of luxury sales at Compass Real Estate, attributed the decline to a number of factors, including global uncertainty, currency pressures and new condo regulations imposed in response to the collapse of Champlain Towers South in 2021.
In addition, rising prices, interest rates and demand for South Florida real estate since the Covid-19 pandemic likely kept foreign buyers out of the game, she said. “In some cases, (rising prices in) Miami may have priced out segments of the international market, narrowing the pool to ultra-high-net-worth buyers,” she said.
International buyers were defined in the survey as non-U.S. citizens whose primary residence is abroad, or a non-U.S. citizen who has lived in the U.S. for less than two years at the time of the transaction. Non-U.S. citizens who have lived in the U.S. for more than two years were not counted as foreign buyers.
The survey found that nearly 60% of foreign buyers of South Florida properties came from Latin America.
A majority of the home sales in South Florida — 59% — involved condominiums, compared to 39% in Florida and 23% nationwide.
Seventy-six percent of homes purchased by foreign buyers in South Florida were used as rental or vacation homes, compared to 45% nationwide.
Argentina headed the list of countries of origin among South Florida purchasers — 18% of foreign buyers were from that nation, followed by Colombia (14%), Canada (8%), Brazil (6%), Mexico (6%) and Venezuela (5%).
Argentina was also the top source of foreign buyers (21%) in Miami-Dade County. Twenty-two percent of Broward buyers were from Colombia, while Canada buyers accounted for 25% of foreign buyers in Palm Beach County, the survey found.
Previous surveys marked a steady decrease in the share of foreign dollars that purchased homes in South Florida since reaching a 50% peak in 2018. From there, the share dropped to 38% in 2019, 32% in 2020 and 14% in 2021 before rebounding to 18% by 2023.
But the survey noted that interest in the South Florida market remains strong among international buyers, particularly in comparison to the Florida and U.S. markets overall.
The dollar value of international purchases in the four counties was estimated at $2.98 billion during the survey period, with $2.3 billion of those buys occurring in Miami-Dade County. Broward County was next with $584 million of foreign transactions, followed by Palm Beach County at $94 million and Martin County at $5 million.
Activity throughout the rest of Florida was estimated to be worth $125 million.
Florida was also the top U.S. destination for international buyers for the 16th consecutive year in 2024, garnering 20% of total foreign buyer purchases. The state’s share has dipped below 20% only once since 2009.
A New York Times story about the survey quoted Peter Zalewski, a Miami-based independent condo analyst, as voicing concerns that President Trump’s immigration and tariff policies could hamper future foreign demand.
But Heatzig did not share those concerns. She told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the decline is a “short-term dip, not a shift in long-term demand.
“While it’s true that some global factors, like currency shifts and political rhetoric, have made certain buyers more cautious, they haven’t erased Miami’s appeal,” Heatzig said. “We’re still talking about a city with world-class amenities, wealth preservation potential, and a lifestyle that resonates across cultures. Sophisticated investors look beyond short-term politics—they focus on where their money will be safe and grow. And that’s still Miami.”
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071 or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.
