In 2023, Miami secured its crown as the top real estate market in America, and the Sunshine State is especially popular among foreign buyers.
One in five of all U.S. international home sales happen in Florida and, of those, one in two are in the Miami metro market. In 2023, $5.1 billion worth of homes were sold to international buyers in South Florida, according to a report by Miami Realtors.
The state as a whole brought in $12.6 billion in real estate transactions with foreign buyers, according to another report by Florida Realtors.
With the spotlight on Miami, buyers were willing to pay high prices and, at times, have barely spent any time in Florida prior. This year, 73% of foreign buyers had visited Florida twice or less before purchasing property and 6% had never been to the state at all, the Miami Realtors report revealed.
In past years, Florida has received attention from Russia and South American countries. This year, Florida caught the eye of some other parts of the globe.
“Miami has always been international,” said Michael Martirena, a luxury real estate agent with Compass. “But Miami continues to grow and blow people away with how quickly it evolves. It's becoming a much more sophisticated city — the lifestyle, the finances, the tech hub, the shopping.”
Though Germany did not top other regions in terms of number of purchases, buyers from the country have shown newfound interest in the Sunshine State. Germany posted the most global web searches for South Florida real estate in both September and October.
