The average prices of real estate sold were more than double the median value of US homes
Non-resident foreigners sold a total of $10.5 billion of US real estate in 2015, increasing from each of the previous two years, according to an analysis by Zillow.
According to data published by the IRS, home sales by non-resident foreigners in 2015 increased from $8.4 billion in 2014 and from $7.5 billion in 2013.
On average, the real estate sold by non-resident foreigners in 2015 had a price of $402,321. The average is more than double the value of the median US home that year, which was $181,400 as of December 2015.
Data revealed that a total of 26,137 non-resident foreigners sold real estate in the US that year. Of the total sellers, 34% were Canadians, making them the largest group of non-residents who sold homes in 2015. They were followed by Germans (11%), residents of the United Kingdom (8%), and Japan (5%).
The four countries combined accounted for 57% of all non-resident foreigners who sold US real estate in 2015. Since the data was first collected in 2013, these countries have consistently been the top sellers of US real estate.
Average sales prices among the four countries were consistently in the mid-$300,000s. Homes sold by Canadians had an average price of $328,732. Meanwhile, the average price was $322,441 for Germans, $313,345 for residents of the United Kingdom, and $317,173 for Japanese.
Zillow said that data on home sales by non-resident foreigners are much more readily available than data on home purchases because sales must be reported to the IRS. As a result of the 2015 sales, the IRS withheld $922.3 million worth of real estate taxes.
