January 12, 2012
San Diego was
the 14th most searched U.S. city among European house hunters, based on global
web traffic on real estate website Trulia.com. Topping the
list in order was Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
What prompted
Trulia to compile the rankings? The theory that the European debt crisis has
driven people in areas such as Greece, Italy and Spain to scope out homes in
the U.S. According to the company's data, there appeared to be a 17.8 percent
spike in interest among the Greeks, when comparing the first quarter of 2011 to
the last quarter. Italy's interest in American homes increased 7.2 percent
during the same timeframe.
Here's some
commentary from Trulia on those findings:
Well, well,
well, so what do you know. Greece – which has often been referred to as the
“patient zero” of the region’s current debt epidemic – came in first place with
a 17.8% spike in interest. While there are probably a multitude of other
contributing factors, this simple observation suggests that many of these Greek
homebuyers aren’t just looking for a home away from home. Instead, they’re
looking to take their money and fly the coop.
The real estate
website also broke down which European Union countries were interested in which
U.S. cities. For instance, Trulia determined that the Germans, Italians and
Swedes were among the most interested in San Diego, based on the percentage of
the site's global traffic from each nation.
Click here to see Trulia's graphic.
The U.S. could
see an influx of international homebuyers if one piece of legislation is
passed. Senators
Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Mike Lee (R-UT) want to expedite the visa process
for foreign investors on one condition: They must spend $500,000 on property.
The proposal is meant to "remove bureaucratic red tape that stifles travel
and investment in the U.S.," according to Lee's office in a media
statement. (Read the whole
thing here.)
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