Are overseas buyers in the market for luxury U.S. homes? In short: yes. Overseas buyers bought homes priced at least US$1M at more than twice the rate of U.S. buyers in the year to March 2025, according to analysis by the National Association of REALTORS(NAR).
NAR’s 2025 International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate report plus data supplied directly to Sotheby’s International Realty by NAR found that almost one in five (18%) international purchases fell into this luxury bracket compared with just 8% of overall existing-home sales.
“Foreign buyers generally purchase at higher price points compared to the typical domestic buyer,” says Matt Christopherson, NAR’s director of business and consumer research.
As shown below, Chinese buyers spent an average US$1,168,800 per home, with 35% of their purchases topping US$1M. British buyers were the next most frequent seven-figure spenders: 23% of their purchases cost US$1M or more.
And for many overseas buyers, cash is king. Almost half (47%) of foreign buyers transacted in cash over the same period, compared to 28% of all buyers—with the proportion rising to 71% of Chinese buyers, 61% of U.K. buyers and 57% of Canadian buyers.
Overall, international buyers spent US$56B on American homes, up almost a third from the previous 12 months. Almost half (47%) bought homes for use as vacation homes, rental properties or both.
