Foreign investment returns to South Florida

Brokers are particularly seeing buyers from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia,.

Source of information: The Real Deal

Luxury broker Dora Puig recounts a deal last month that reminded her of the “good old days” when foreign buyers — particularly those from Latin America — were a larger presence in South Florida real estate.

The $9.3 million Fisher Island condo’s seller was Mexican and the buyer Brazilian.

Though foreign buyers never really disappeared during the pandemic, Puig and others predict more Brazilian buyers will “pour in” after the presidential election in October. President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will take office in January. It’s common after any leftist leader wins a contentious election in Latin America that wealthy buyers look to move their money into the U.S.

The influx of international investment in South Florida is a welcome change for sellers and brokers, now that high mortgage rates have pushed domestic buyers to the sidelines.

And the numbers show that foreign investment is returning. This year, international buyers spent $6.8 billion on residential real estate in South Florida, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. That’s a 34 percent annual increase compared to the $5.1 billion they spent last year.

Foreign buyers acquired 9,400 homes in South Florida this year, up 25 percent, year-over-year. Nationally, foreign investment fell, according to the association’s report.

Broker and developer Edgardo Defortuna, CEO of Miami-based Fortune International Group, said he has seen an uptick in buyers from Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Argentina. Mexicans are also a strong buyer pool in Sunny Isles Beach, he said this week.