Florida’s official nickname is the Sunshine State. The Florida sunshine attracts a lot of different demographics, but it appears to have a broad appeal to the foreign buyer. The National Association of Realtors published a 2016 Profile of International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate, which showed transactions with international clients for a 12-month period ending in March 2016. The survey shared these important facts about the foreign buyer:
- Foreign buyers purchased 214,885 residential properties, a 3% increase from 208,947 in the previous 12-month period.
- Foreign buyers typically purchase more expensive properties. For example, foreign buyers purchased properties valued at $277,380 compared with the median price of $223,058 of all U.S. existing home sales.
- Forty-five percent of foreign buyers who purchased residential property came from China ($27.0B), Canada ($8.9B), India ($6.1B), the United Kingdom ($5.5B), and Mexico ($4.8B).
- Five states accounted for 51% of total residential property purchases by foreign buyers nationwide: Florida (22%), California (15%), Texas (10%), Arizona (4%), and New York (4%).
- Seventy-two percent of non-resident foreign buyers purchased the property as a vacation and/or residential rental property for investment.
The reNEWable Living Home, BUILDER’s 2018 concept project, is being built by Meritage Homes in Orlando, Fla. The home is located in a new phase of the Estates at Parkside, which is estimated to have more than 60% foreign residents.
The architect for the project, BSB Design, considered the unique aspects of the foreign buyer during the design phase. “The way that we designed it was to create complete separation based on the demands of multigenerational buyers,” says Dan Swift, president at BSB Design, noting that those in the home can collaborate and be together when they want to be, yet still have a healthy amount of separation.
“As human beings we all need alone time to rejuvenate, and the house is designed to accommodate all those different people in the house,” says Swift. “It’s organized in a way that all the rooms are isolated enough to maximize time to rejuvenate. The kitchen and dining are oversized to accommodate everyone being together and still not feel like they are on top of each other. They can all still use public spaces and everyone can be using it.”
The home design focuses on a high bedroom count, which means it can be used as a vacation home or have plenty of room for foreign buyers living there while their child is a student at a domestic university.
With a steep majority thinking of the space for vacation use, Swift says they made sure to include more bedrooms. The volume of rooms offers a lot of places to entertain. The design team also included a pool so the home buyer can soak up the Florida sunshine.
In the reNEWable Living Home, there also is room for an older generation in the downstairs suite.
“Other cultures are so much more connected with extended family,” Swift says. “The reverence is different. They stay connected as much as they can. They plan for it to happen. They want to make sure that they are taking care of parents, particularly in South American countries, like Brazil. On the Asian front, it’s the same way. As Americans, we don’t have it as a mindset but sort of an option that might happen in the future, with no cultural reverence.”
NAR
Foreign buyers from 5 countries continued to account for most of the reported purchases: China, Canada, Mexico, India, and the United Kingdom. Together, they constituted 45% of foreign residential property buyers
Parents in America also want to have the time to themselves after kids move on, he says.
“The bottom line is that all home buyers are looking for a home that is easy, relaxing, and rejuvenating,” says Swift. “This home offers a level of sensitivity to real life not just about the building and its square footage against a number. It still has to work.”
Watch the progress of this project on a regular basis by visiting www.builderonline.com/renewable.
