Trulia, Inc. (NYSE: TRLA), a leading online marketplace for homebuyers, sellers, renters, and
real estate professionals, today published its
International House Hunter Report, which provides the inside scoop on current foreign interest in the U.S. housing market. Based on all
home searches on Trulia between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013, this report tracks which U.S. metropolitan areas prospective foreign home searchers are looking at and how that has changed during the past year. Check out the full report
here.
Top 10 U.S. Housing Markets for International House Hunters Foreign homebuyers remain big players in many U.S. housing markets, even as asking
home prices rose 9.5 percent year-over-year (Y-o-Y) in May. Florida remains the most popular
real estate market but has recently become less attractive as home prices recover. Of the 10 housing markets with the highest share of searches on Trulia coming from outside the U.S., eight are on the decline. Only in
Los Angeles and
San Francisco did the foreign share of search traffic rise in the past year.
| # | | U.S. Metro | | Share of Home Searches from Outside the U.S. | | Y-o-Y Change in Foreign Search Share |
| 1 | | Miami, FL | | 14% | | -4% |
| 2 | | Los Angeles, CA | | 13% | | 4% |
| 3 | | Fort Lauderdale, FL | | 12% | | -9% |
| 4 | | West Palm Beach, FL | | 10% | | -12% |
| 5 | | Honolulu, HI | | 10% | | -17% |
| 6 | | Orlando, FL | | 10% | | -9% |
| 7 | | San Francisco, CA | | 9% | | 2% |
| 8 | | Cape Coral- Fort Myers, FL | | 9% | | -13% |
| 9 | | Lakeland- Winter Haven, FL | | 9% | | -18% |
| 10 | | Las Vegas, NV | | 8% | | -4% |
| Note: Share of home searches from outside the U.S. is the percent of all searches on Trulia in each metro area that come from outside the United States. |
| |
Not All Foreigners Turned Off By Rising Home Prices With the U.S. housing market in recovery, foreign interest in
American real estate appears to be declining, but diversifying. Today, foreigners account for 4.3 percent of all the home searches on Trulia – down slightly from 4.4 percent the previous year. The largest share of foreign home searches over the past one-year period came from Canada (19 percent), the United Kingdom (9 percent), and Germany (5 percent), but interest has fallen or stagnated in these North American and European countries. However, home searches are on the rise from lower- and middle-income countries with strong economic growth and stronger spending power. In the past year, the share of searches from Nigeria, India, Russia, the Philippines, and China all leapt by more than 15 percent Y-o-Y.
America’s Global Neighborhoods: Bel Air, Tribeca, Brickell International house hunters often concentrate their home searches in the most famous and expensive neighborhoods in town. For instance, 41 percent of searches in the
Bel Air neighborhood of
Los Angeles come from other countries, compared with 13 percent of searches in the overall
Los Angeles metro area. Of the top 10 ZIP codes ranked by their share of foreign searches, four are on the west side of
Los Angeles, three are in
Manhattan, one is
Miami, and two are in the
Lakeland-
Winter Haven metro in Central
Florida.
| # | | ZIP Code | | Neighborhood | | U.S. Metro | | Share of Home Searches from Outside the U.S. |
| 1 | | 90077 | | Bel Air | | Los Angeles, CA | | 41% |
| 2 | | 90210 | | Beverly Hills | | Los Angeles, CA | | 38% |
| 3 | | 90069 | | West Hollywood / Sunset Blvd | | Los Angeles, CA | | 34% |
| 4 | | 33131 | | Brickell Ave / Brickell Key | | Miami, FL | | 29% |
| 5 | | 10013 | | Tribeca / Little Italy | | New York, NY-NJ | | 28% |
| 6 | | 10007 | | World Trade Center / City Hall | | New York, NY-NJ | | 28% |
| 7 | | 33897 | | Davenport | | Lakeland- Winter Haven, FL | | 28% |
| 8 | | 90265 | | Malibu | | Los Angeles, CA | | 28% |
| 9 | | 33896 | | Davenport | | Lakeland- Winter Haven, FL | | 28% |
| 10 | | 10019 | | Midtown / West 50’s | | New York, NY-NJ | | 27% |
| Note: Share of home searches from outside the U.S. is the percent of all the searches on Trulia in the ZIP code that come from outside the United States. |
| |
PRE-APPROVED QUOTES - “People from all corners of the globe are looking at U.S. homes,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “Even though foreigners are a declining share of all home searches, foreign interest is becoming more diverse. More searches are coming from rapidly-growing developing countries, especially in Asia and Africa.”
- “Foreigners are drawn to the rich-and-famous neighborhoods,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “In some of the priciest neighborhoods in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, more than one quarter of home searches come from other countries. But most Americans live in neighborhoods that lack worldwide name recognition. In most neighborhoods, foreigners account for less than 3 percent of home searches.”
ABOUT TRULIA, INC. Trulia (NYSE: TRLA) gives home buyers, sellers, owners, and renters the inside scoop
on properties, places, and real estate professionals. Trulia has unique info on the areas people want to live that can't be found anywhere else: users can learn about agents, neighborhoods, schools,
crime, commute times, and even ask the
local community questions.
Real estate professionals use Trulia to connect with millions of transaction-ready buyers and sellers each month via our hyperlocal advertising services, social recommendations, and top-rated
mobile real estate apps. Trulia is headquartered in downtown San Francisco. Trulia is a registered trademark of Trulia, Inc.
