More and more Texas homes are being snapped up by foreign buyers, according to a new report from the Texas Association of Realtors, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
U.S. residential property has long been considered a 'safe haven' for wealthy individuals from countries experiencing currency of economic challenges, and there are more and more countries in dire situations every day, including Nicaragua, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, and Greece.
The TAR's Kiki Lybert says the reliably rising price of Texas homes looks pretty good to somebody who's savings may be in danger from inflation or currency devaluation, as happened in Venezuela.
"Some of it is investment property, we have a very stable economy here, but we also see people moving here from other countries," she says.
As the Texas economy expands, more and more people are entering the state legally from foreign nations to work in several industries, from services to tech to manufacturing.
She says foreign buyers are usually a dream for sellers, and for Realtors.
"Typically, an all-cash buyer doesn't not have a mortgage company, so the price is usually what is reflected the appraisal," she said. "It also is frequently quicker."
But while a rush of foreign home buyers into Texas is good news for home sellers, it is adding more pressure to the upward momentum on housing values, and that is leading to increasing property taxes for homeowners.
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