Canadians top foreign buyers for U.S. property

Canadians were the top foreign buyers for U.S. properties from March 2009 to March 2010.

The Chicago-based National Association of Realtors released a study that showed Canadians bought 23 per cent of homes sold to citizens of other countries, as reported in The Globe and Mail. Canadians spent about $9.5 billion on U.S. real estate.

Mexicans were second with 10 per cent, followed by the United Kingdom (9 per cent), China (8 per cent) and Germany (7 per cent).

"Although international purchasers from a wide variety of countries are present throughout the United States for a variety of reasons, proximity to the home country and the convenience of air transportation are believed to be important considerations in selecting the buying location," the report stated.

There were however several financing hurdles noted anecdotally in the report's appendix. One read, "Canadian buyer had U.S. job, earning over $100,000 per year, yet bank took over four months to decide if they would provide him with a $150,000 mortgage. This process should have been much more of a no-brainer."

Article Source: Broker News