Foreign investors are flocking to Florida, Miami in particular, this year in search of bargain condos – and they are not being disappointed.

 

After new construction almost ground to a halt in Miami in 2008 and 2009 and many newly built condominiums stood empty, the Miami Association of Realtors reported in a recent article on Bloomberg Businessweek that “Home sales jumped by a record 46 per cent last year.” Median monthly rents have also increased to $1.97 per square foot according to Condo Vultures, a Miami real estate consulting firm.

New construction began in a modest way last summer with an 18-storey building, yet more than 70 per cent of the units were under contract before the builders even broke ground. Many more construction projects have been started since; some feature elaborate lagoons, casinos or shopping malls as enticements and buyers are snapping up properties as fast as they are being built. But only five per cent of these units are selling to Americans, with the majority going to Latin American, European and Asian investors. The reality seems to be that the price per square foot is significantly cheaper than any of the home markets of these investors and booming economies in South America have fuelled a desire to invest in foreign markets.

A principal at Condo Vultures also predicted that “Miami’s downtown condo market will reach full occupancy early next year, compared with eight per cent vacancy now”. This is great news for potential investors who want buy to let properties. The economy is stabilising and new property prices are once again affordable. For many foreigners from politically volatile countries, buying a property in America is not only an investment, but a safe place to “bank” their money. As for Europeans, this is more likely to be a chance to snag ownership of a place in the sun.

For details of property for sale in America, visit the USA listings on Rightmove Overseas. One way to save money when buying in the USA is to use a currency specialist when transferring your pounds into dollars to complete the purchase of your property. For more information on this, contact Smart Currency Exchange.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in America, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘USA Property Buying Guide’