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According to the National Association of Realtors' 2026 international transactions report, foreign buyers purchased $45.3 billion worth of U.S. existing homes from April 2025 through March 2026, a 19.1% decline from the prior year. The number of homes purchased fell 14% to 67,100, the second-lowest total since NAR began tracking foreign buyer activity in 2009.
Against that backdrop, California's share of foreign purchases rose to 19%, up from 15% a year earlier. Florida, the perennial leader, slipped from 21% to 20%. After decades of Florida dominance, the gap between the top two states is now a single percentage point.
California Takes 19% as Florida Slips to 20%
Florida held 20% of foreign purchases and California took 19%, with Texas at 12% and New Jersey and Georgia at 4% each.
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California's climb has been steady across two report cycles. It overtook Texas for the No. 2 spot in the 2025 report, then closed most of the remaining distance to Florida this year, even as the national pool of foreign buyers shrank.
The buyer mix explains part of it. Canada led all countries of origin with 16% of purchases. Mexico followed at 14%, then China at 11%. But dollar volume flips that ranking. Chinese buyers spent $7.6 billion, more than any other group, at an average purchase price of roughly $1 million. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said those higher-priced purchases were concentrated specifically in California.
48% Paid All Cash
Foreign buyers finance homes differently than domestic ones, and the gap is wide. Per NAR's report, 48% of foreign buyers paid all cash, compared to 28% of all U.S. existing-home buyers. The median foreign purchase price was $465,000, well above the market as a whole.
That cash figure gets quoted often, usually as proof that foreign buyers arrive with money already in hand. The more useful number is the other one. If 48% paid cash, then 52% needed financing, and that group faces obstacles domestic borrowers never see. Income earned abroad and credit built in another country rarely fit the documentation requirements of a conventional mortgage.
Resident foreign buyers, meaning recent immigrants and visa holders living in the U.S., accounted for 56% of all foreign purchases. These are people with U.S. addresses and often U.S. jobs, but thin domestic credit files. For buyers like these in California's two largest coastal metros, hard money lenders in Los Angeles and San Diego routinely work with foreign nationals and entity-vested borrowers, and underwrite based on the property and the strength of the deal.
Buying Fell Despite a Weaker Dollar
Yun attributed the national decline to a drop in international visitors to the U.S., and pointed out that even a slightly weaker dollar, which stretches foreign purchasing power, failed to spur activity.
That makes California's gain harder to explain away. The state increased its share while total foreign buying contracted and exchange rates offered no unusual advantage.
The next test comes in mid-2027, when NAR's report will cover the current buying year. If California adds one more point of share, it would match or pass Florida for the first time in the report's history, ending a run at the top that Florida has held for more than 15 years. For a state that sat behind Texas as recently as 2024, that is a fast climb.
