Nearly twice as many homes priced over $10 million were sold to Asians as Western Europeans in the US last year, while buyers from the Americas dominate a far greater share of the international sales for all price tiers than either Asians or Western Europeans.
Of the 28 percent of international buyers measured by a recent Coldwell Banker International Previews survey of its agents, 39 percent come from Asia and only 20 percent come from Western Europe. Coldwell Banker did not break down its data by country of origin.
Asians have been gaining in their share of all price ranges but are not nearly as dominant as the lower tiers as they are in the ultra luxury category, as reported by last June by the National Association of Realtors in its annual Profile of International Home Buying Activity. According to the NAR report of all price ranges, market share of purchases by buyers from China, Japan and India have increased from 12 to 18 percent since 2007. Chinese purchases alone have risen from 5 to 11 percent of all foreign sales in the last five years. During the same period, purchases by Europeans have increased from 19 percent to 14 percent.
Buyers from North, South and Central America continue to dominate all international purchases, account for 35 percent of all international sales in 2011. But for homes priced over $1 million, buyers from the Americas trail Asians and Europeans, except in Miami. According to Helen Jeanne Nicastri, a Coldwell Banker International Previews specialist in Coral Gables: “At least half of the buyers in Miami are international, and are specifically coming from Latin America-including Brazil,Venezuela, Mexico and Argentina.”
Coldwell Banker Previews International also released rankings of top luxury zip codes.
Top Ten Markets by Zip Code: Listings Over $10 Million
ZIP code |
City/ State |
Number of Listings |
90210 |
Beverly Hills, CA |
19 |
81611 |
Aspen, CO |
13 |
93108 |
Santa Barbara, CA |
13 |
90077 |
Los Angeles, CA |
9 |
33139 |
Miami Beach, FL |
7 |
94027 |
Atherton, CA |
7 |
06830 |
Greenwich, CT |
6 |
90265 |
Malibu, CA |
5 |
90049 |
Los Angeles, CA |
5 |
94115 |
San Francisco, CA |
5 |
Coldwell Banker Previews International 2012