Inman names Honolulu one of their Top 10 Global Hotspots

It’s no surprise that Honolulu is one of the top 10 U.S. markets for foreign homebuyers—but it may be a bit of a surprise that we are only the eighth most popular. Inman News recently compiled this report using public record data from San Diego-based real estate data analysis firm DataQuick.

According to the report, buyers listing a foreign home address purchased 3.6 percent of homes sold in metro Honolulu between May 2011 and January 2012. By comparison, 1.1 percent of homes sold in the entire country during that period had buyers listing an overseas address.

Japan accounted for 58.1 percent of Honolulu’s foreign buyers during that time, followed by Canada at 16.3 percent and China, including Hong Kong, at 5.7 percent.

Condos were the most popular property type among international buyers in Honolulu, as the report they purchased 5.5 percent of resale condos sold between May 2011 and January 2012.

About 20 percent of Honolulu metro area’s 2010 population age 1 year old or older was foreign-born. Those who were foreign-born and moved from abroad accounted for 5 percent of people who had moved in 2009—the third-highest share among the 10 markets and well above the 2.3 percent rate at the national level.

Most, if not all, of the top markets are big tourist destinations; no Midwest cities were named. Six of the 10 areas are in Florida, of which five lead the list. The markets with the highest share of foreign buyers are, in order:

1. Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
2. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
3. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
4. North Point-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL
5. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
6. Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ
7. New York County, NY (Manhattan)
8. Honolulu, HI
9. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
10. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV

To see the whole report, click here.