Publication:  MarketWatch

Summary:  Property sales to international buyers rose 35 percent to $92 billion as international buyers take advantage of favorable U.S. property prices and exchange rates.  Florida, California, Arizona and Texas accounted for more than half of the transactions.  Canadians had the largest share of number of purchases while buyers from China led in total dollar volume.   The top cities attracting international buyers are Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, New York and Orlando.

Wei Min’s comments in article:  Many buyers have children attending school in the U.S. and seek a place for them to stay, said Wei Min Tan, a real-estate agent with Rutenberg in New York City.  While shocking headlines of multi million-dollar property sales to foreign investors often make a splash in the media, Tan said there are many foreign buyers looking for more modestly priced homes.

“A lot of the foreign buyers [make sales in] all cash,” Tan said. “They are driving up the prices that way.  They are getting the edge in terms of the negotiation.”