Foreign purchases of US homes contracted in the most recent measured cycle: 67,100 units and US$ 45.3 billion between April 2025 and March 2026, down 14% in units and 19.1% in dollar volume. Brazil, previously second among foreign buyers in Florida, slipped to third. The numbers tell a less triumphant story than the industry usually tells — and a more useful one for deciding.
How big is the market, really?
According to the National Association of Realtors, foreign buyers purchased 67,100 US residential properties between April 2025 and March 2026, totalling US$ 45.3 billion. In the prior cycle, April 2024 to March 2025, volume was US$ 56 billion, up 33% on the period before that.
In other words, the recent cycle is not the continuation of a climb. It is a contraction following a strong year.
US$ 45.3 billion across 67,100 properties implies an average near US$ 675,000 per transaction — above the median US domestic purchase, reflecting the concentration of foreign buyers in higher price bands and specific markets.
Where did the money go?
Florida led again, with 20% of all foreign purchases in the period, against 21% in the prior cycle. The state's lead is structural: climate, no state income tax, air connectivity with Latin America and a large stock of new construction.
And Brazil specifically?
In the Florida Realtors survey, Brazil accounted for 7% of foreign sales in the state, with US$ 762 million in volume. The country fell from second to third by number of sales, behind Canada and Colombia — the first time in several years.
One detail distinguishes the Brazilian buyer: roughly 68% were not US residents. This is buying by people who live in Brazil, not by people who have already moved. Among Canadians the proportion is higher still, near 85%.
Why the decline, if interest has not fallen?
Three factors weigh, and none of them is lack of interest. US credit costs rose and made the payment more expensive. US home prices held firm. And emerging-market currencies moved within bands that make conversion costly.
For the Brazilian buyer that third factor became explicit in October 2026: the dollar jumped from R$ 4.99 to between R$ 5.42 and R$ 5.60 in the first session after the presidential runoff. The same US$ 350,000 property went from roughly R$ 1.75 million to near R$ 1.96 million with nothing changing in the asset.
What the data means for anyone deciding
It means the window is not uniform, and that structure matters more than timing. Convert the full price on a day of currency stress and you absorb the full stress. Finance it and you convert the down payment, spreading the rest over time.
It also means concentration in a single market is a choice, not an inevitability. Florida leads, but leading is not the same as best return for every profile — it is where there is most supply, most liquidity and the most comparables.
And finally it means the industry sold an up cycle as though it were permanent. It was not. Good data is data that shows the fall alongside the rise.
Sources
- National Association of Realtors — foreign buyers, April 2025 to March 2026
- National Association of Realtors — 2025 international transactions report
- Florida Realtors — international transactions profile, Florida
- Tribunal Regional Eleitoral de São Paulo — 2026 runoff result
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