 Dear
IC Members:
REALTOR.COM GOES INTERNATIONAL!
NAR and Move, Inc.,the operator of Realtor.com, extended the lead of
Realtor.com as the world’s largest online destination for real estate
listings with the launch of the Realtor.com International web site.
Available at
www.Realtor.com/International, the new site delivers the 4.4 million
for-sale property listings displayed on Realtor.com to buyers across the
globe, as well as residential properties fed to the site by foreign content
providers. Realtor.com International features residential real estate
listings from Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal, Romania,
Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain.
To help international and foreign-born buyers as they search for U.S.
residential real estate, the new Realtor.com International search experience
delivers enhanced translation options in 11 languages including Chinese,
Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese,
Russian, and Spanish. The site also features easy-to-use currency and
dimension converters available on all pages.
In the past three months, nearly 2.6 million international visitors searched
for U.S. real estate on Realtor.com . The top five countries where searches
originated from are Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and
India.
NAR’s 2011 Profile of International Home Buying Activity reports the U.S.
remains a top destination for foreign buyers with international purchases
surging $16 billion in the last year. According to the survey, total
residential international sales last year in the U.S. equaled $82 billion.
Total international sales were split evenly between non-resident foreigners
and recent immigrants.
International buyers of U.S. residential real estate came from 70 countries;
the top five (Canada, Mexico, China, U.K., and India) accounted for 53
percent of all transactions from March 2010 to March 2011. Most states in
the U.S. had at least one international transaction, while Arizona,
California, Florida, and Texas—accounted for 58 percent of all U.S.
residential transactions completed by international buyers. Proximity to the
home country, the convenience of air transportation, and climate and
location are the most important considerations to international buyers.
Candace Curtis,
2011 Chair, Daytona Beach Association
International Council
International Council Website
NAR Video on
International Real Estate |
