The Global Experience of HAR REALTOR® Members and REALTORS® in the Rest of Texas are Highlighted
Earlier this year, HAR and TAR along with Data Targeting, administered an international survey to all members in the state. The HAR survey was sent out first and then the rest of the state association’s members were sent the same survey. The differences between the two sets of members are highlighted in the graphs below.
A few interesting points to note: 56% of the HAR members that participated in the survey reported working with an international client in the last year versus 31% of the non-HAR members.
The vast majority of international clients are looking for residential properties, more specifically, detached single family homes in either suburban or urban communities.
In the Houston area, 28% of international clients are paying $250,000 or less for homes compared to 47% in the rest of the state. In the Houston area, 39% of foreign buyers are paying more than $400,000 for their homes versus only 21% in the rest of Texas 6% of those surveyed in the Houston area say the market for international buyers in their area is growing versus 61% in the rest of the state.
In the Houston area 33%, of those surveyed said the majority of their clients are from Mexico and 47.5% of those in the rest of the state said the same. 11% of those in the Houston area said the majority of their clients are from China versus 9% from the rest of the state.
About one third of foreign home buyers pay cash in the Houston area and 25% in the rest of the state do the same. Another third in the Houston area finance their homes and 41% of those in the rest of the state do so as well.
The single biggest barrier to a global client purchasing a property here is financing issues, according to almost 41% of Houston area REALTORS®. and roughly 36% of REALTORS®. in the rest of Texas. A foreign client not being able to find a property is the second most common answer for both sets of REALTORS®.
