REALTOR.com Goes Global
Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, November 03, 2011
The National Association of REALTORS® and Move Inc. have announced the launch of the REALTOR.com International Web site. Available at www.REALTOR.com/International, the new site delivers 4.4 million for-sale property listings to buyers across the globe, as well as residential properties fed to the site by foreign content providers.
At launch, Realtor.com International will feature residential real estate listings from Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain. The site can also be accessed from the REALTOR.com home page. 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.
“Increasingly, more and more REALTORS® are working with international clients who want to buy property in the U.S. and the new REALTOR.com International web site will not only allow REALTORS® to offer their expertise and knowledge to a broader audience, but will also bring buyers and sellers together across the globe,” said NAR President Ron Phipps. “Foreign buyers understand the value of owning a home in the U.S. and can rely on a REALTOR® because of their global perspective and understanding of different cultures and real estate practices. This collaboration with Move is just one of many ways REALTORS® can expand and grow their business globally.”
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.
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.
Source: NAR
Homes such as this one with panoramic views will have even greater exposure on this new platform:
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