The number of international homebuyers declined sharply throughout the United States in the past year amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2021 Profile of International Transactions in U.S. Real Estate.

International buyers purchased 107,000 residential properties from April 2020 through March 2021, marking a 31% decline from the 154,000 residences bought the previous year. The dollar value of homes purchased by international buyers declined to $54.4 billion, dropping 27% from $74 billion the previous year. In all, international buyers accounted for 2.8% of the $5.8 trillion spent on homes during the pandemic.

The median price of homes purchased by international buyers was $351,800, or 15% more than the $305,000 median price of all existing homes sold in the U.S. during the same time frame.

Both the number of homes sold to international buyers and their value hit their lowest point since 2011, when international buyers picked up 210,800 homes valued at a total of $66.4 billion.

“The big decline in foreign purchases of homes in the U.S. in the past year is no surprise, given the pandemic-induced lockdowns and international travel restrictions,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “Yet, even with the absence of foreign buyers, the U.S. housing market strengthened solidly.”

The NAR categorizes international buyers in two ways: those who live abroad and those who reside in the United States and are either recent immigrants or hold a visa. The value of homes bought by international buyers already living in the U.S. totaled $32.4 billion. The total value of homes bought by those living abroad was $22 billion.

Buyers from China spent the most at $4.5 billion, followed by Canada at $4.2 billion, India at $3.1 billion, Mexico at $2.9 billion and the United Kingdom at $2.7 billion. The United Kingdom was the only nation among the top five to increase spending, jumping from $1.4 billion the previous year to take Colombia’s place on the list. The annual dollar volume spent fell by more than 50% for Mexico, Canada and China.

“As travel restrictions loosen and foreign students return to U.S. colleges in the upcoming year, there is likely to be some growth in foreign buying of U.S. real estate,” Yun said. “High home prices and the ongoing lack of inventory could, however, pose a challenge for buyers.”

Florida was the top destination for 21% of international buyers, followed by California (16%), Texas (9%), Arizona (5%) and New York and New Jersey tied at 4%.

Among all international buyers, 43% purchased a home as their primary residence and 42% bought with the intention of using their property as a vacation home, a rental property or both. Forty-eight percent bought homes in the suburbs, while 28% purchased homes in urban areas, following trends that have been in place for six years. However, the number of international buyers purchasing homes in resort areas fell from 17% to 7%. Detached, single-family homes accounted for 55% of international purchases, followed by townhomes (19%) and condominiums (16%).

The number of international homebuyers declined sharply throughout the United States in the past year amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2021 Profile of International Transactions in U.S. Real Estate.

International buyers purchased 107,000 residential properties from April 2020 through March 2021, marking a 31% decline from the 154,000 residences bought the previous year. The dollar value of homes purchased by international buyers declined to $54.4 billion, dropping 27% from $74 billion the previous year. In all, international buyers accounted for 2.8% of the $5.8 trillion spent on homes during the pandemic.

The median price of homes purchased by international buyers was $351,800, or 15% more than the $305,000 median price of all existing homes sold in the U.S. during the same time frame.

Both the number of homes sold to international buyers and their value hit their lowest point since 2011, when international buyers picked up 210,800 homes valued at a total of $66.4 billion.

“The big decline in foreign purchases of homes in the U.S. in the past year is no surprise, given the pandemic-induced lockdowns and international travel restrictions,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “Yet, even with the absence of foreign buyers, the U.S. housing market strengthened solidly.”

The NAR categorizes international buyers in two ways: those who live abroad and those who reside in the United States and are either recent immigrants or hold a visa. The value of homes bought by international buyers already living in the U.S. totaled $32.4 billion. The total value of homes bought by those living abroad was $22 billion.

Buyers from China spent the most at $4.5 billion, followed by Canada at $4.2 billion, India at $3.1 billion, Mexico at $2.9 billion and the United Kingdom at $2.7 billion. The United Kingdom was the only nation among the top five to increase spending, jumping from $1.4 billion the previous year to take Colombia’s place on the list. The annual dollar volume spent fell by more than 50% for Mexico, Canada and China.

“As travel restrictions loosen and foreign students return to U.S. colleges in the upcoming year, there is likely to be some growth in foreign buying of U.S. real estate,” Yun said. “High home prices and the ongoing lack of inventory could, however, pose a challenge for buyers.”

Florida was the top destination for 21% of international buyers, followed by California (16%), Texas (9%), Arizona (5%) and New York and New Jersey tied at 4%.

Among all international buyers, 43% purchased a home as their primary residence and 42% bought with the intention of using their property as a vacation home, a rental property or both. Forty-eight percent bought homes in the suburbs, while 28% purchased homes in urban areas, following trends that have been in place for six years. However, the number of international buyers purchasing homes in resort areas fell from 17% to 7%. Detached, single-family homes accounted for 55% of international purchases, followed by townhomes (19%) and condominiums (16%).

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Public health is normally the responsibility of government officials and agencies. But the rampaging delta variant of COVID-19 has shown public institutions to be inadequate to the task. So it may be up to the private sector to do the heavy lifting.

Early in the pandemic, the urgent danger forced governors and mayors to take drastic actions that many citizens resented — closing businesses, issuing stay-at-home orders and mandating masks. But the arrival of vaccines sharply curtailed the virus, allowing life to return to near-normal.

Even though this virulent variant has sent infections and hospitalizations soaring, public officials are leery of the opposition that new requirements might provoke.

President Joe Biden has shied away from putting any mandates on ordinary Americans, for obvious reasons. When he raised the idea of a door-to-door outreach initiative to encourage vaccinations, Republicans reacted as if the Gestapo were coming to drag people out of their beds.

Treading lightly is part of Biden’s attempt to restore calm after the nonstop turbulence of the previous four years.

He did issue an order requiring federal employees to either get vaccinated or wear masks and undergo regular testing. But that’s not so controversial — if only because the GOP’s anti-government zealots don’t worry much about inconveniencing Washington bureaucrats.

The mandate will help stem the spread of the disease. But public employees make up just 15% of the U.S. workforce. The vast majority of Americans work in the private sector. Fortunately, capitalists can act with greater freedom and less political controversy than governments can.

Some of them are not waiting for brave statesmanship from politicians. A host of corporations have decided that when it comes to boosting vaccinations, they need more than gentle encouragement.

The Walt Disney Co. announced that all salaried and non-union workers must be vaccinated. Walmart Inc. is requiring inoculations for everyone at its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. Google and Facebook are doing likewise at their U.S. campuses. Tyson Foods will insist that its 120,000 employees get their shots.

Chicago real estate firm Related Midwest is giving its employees a choice between getting a vaccination and getting a pink slip. United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. will insist on shots for new hires.

Hundreds of private (as well as public) colleges and universities have told students and faculty to be vaccinated in time for the fall term.

Some Republican officials are trumpeting their rejection of “vaccine passports,” of the sort decreed by New York City for employees and customers of restaurants, bars, fitness centers and performance venues.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida signed a bill forbidding businesses to ask customers for proof of vaccination. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas barred companies that get state funds from imposing such rules.

But even in the GOP, there seems to be no fervent desire to tell businesses what to do. Meddling in conditions of private employment would be conspicuously incompatible with the usual (and usually sound) conservative approach to economic matters.

That’s why it’s not likely to catch on, even in places where vaccine resistance is most rabid. Republican officeholders seldom embrace policies that antagonize the business community, which accounts for a lot of campaign contributions.

Companies in red states are happily accustomed to operating without a lot of bossypants government. They also rarely have to deal with unions, which might push back on mandatory vaccinations.

In Democratic states, of course, policymakers have made a priority of getting the vaccine into people’s arms, not indulging those who think it contains a microchip. Even die-hard progressives might rather defer to the titans of industry if it means saving lives.

Most adults are already immunized, and many will think they deserve to be protected from irresponsible co-workers.

Elected officials may not want to insist that Americans take this simple step to protect others as well as themselves. But if they aren’t willing to lead, they shouldn’t stand in the way of those who are.

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Steve Chapman

Public health is normally the responsibility of government officials and agencies. But the rampaging delta variant of COVID-19 has shown public institutions to be inadequate to the task. So it may be up to the private sector to do the heavy lifting.

Early in the pandemic, the urgent danger forced governors and mayors to take drastic actions that many citizens resented — closing businesses, issuing stay-at-home orders and mandating masks. But the arrival of vaccines sharply curtailed the virus, allowing life to return to near-normal. Even though this virulent variant has sent infections and hospitalizations soaring, public officials are leery of the opposition that new requirements might provoke.

President Joe Biden has shied away from putting any mandates on ordinary Americans, for obvious reasons. When he raised the idea of a door-to-door outreach initiative to encourage vaccinations, Republicans reacted as if the Gestapo were coming to drag people out of their beds. Treading lightly is part of Biden’s attempt to restore calm after the nonstop turbulence of the previous four years.

He did issue an order requiring federal employees to either get vaccinated or wear masks and undergo regular testing. But that’s not so controversial — if only because the GOP’s anti-government zealots don’t worry much about inconveniencing Washington bureaucrats.

The mandate will help stem the spread of the disease. But public employees make up just 15% of the U.S. workforce. The vast majority of Americans work in the private sector. Fortunately, capitalists can act with greater freedom and less political controversy than governments can.

Some of them are not waiting for brave statesmanship from politicians. A host of corporations have decided that when it comes to boosting vaccinations, they need more than gentle encouragement.

The Walt Disney Co. announced that all salaried and nonunion workers must be vaccinated. Walmart Inc. is requiring inoculations for everyone at its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. Google and Facebook are doing likewise at their U.S. campuses. Tyson Foods will insist that its 120,000 employees get their shots.

Chicago real estate firm Related Midwest is giving its employees a choice between getting a vaccination and getting a pink slip. United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. will insist on shots for new hires. Hundreds of private (as well as public) colleges and universities have told students and faculty to be vaccinated in time for the fall term.

Some Republican officials are trumpeting their rejection of “vaccine passports,” of the sort decreed by New York City for employees and customers of restaurants, bars, fitness centers and performance venues. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida signed a bill forbidding businesses to ask customers for proof of vaccination. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas barred companies that get state funds from imposing such rules.

But even in the GOP, there seems to be no fervent desire to tell businesses what to do. Meddling in conditions of private employment would be conspicuously incompatible with the usual (and usually sound) conservative approach to economic matters.

That’s why it’s not likely to catch on, even in places where vaccine resistance is most rabid. Republican officeholders seldom embrace policies that antagonize the business community, which accounts for a lot of campaign contributions. Their customary view is that if workers don’t like how their employers operate, they are welcome to exercise their God-given right to find another job.

Companies in red states are happily accustomed to operating without a lot of bossypants government. They also rarely have to deal with unions, which might push back on mandatory vaccinations.

In Democratic states, of course, policymakers have made a priority of getting the vaccine into people’s arms, not indulging those who think it contains a microchip. Even diehard progressives might rather defer to the titans of industry if it means saving lives.

So if businesses are inclined to impose vaccine mandates, no one is going to stop them. And more companies are likely to impose them.

Most adults are already immunized, and many will think they deserve to be protected from irresponsible co-workers. In a labor market where many employers are having trouble finding workers, a vaccine requirement would probably attract more applicants than it would repel.

Elected officials may not want to insist that Americans take this simple step to protect others as well as themselves. But if they aren’t willing to lead, they shouldn’t stand in the way of those who are.

Steve Chapman is a columnist and editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @SteveChapman13.

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CHICAGO, Aug. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Interfirst announced a new investment of $5 million into the Chicago area. This will create hundreds of new jobs across the region, including up to 500 mortgage loan officer positions which Interfirst hopes to fill with many teachers from the community.

“This is about far more than simply expanding our presence in a new market. Our investment into the region is about hiring the kind of talent which will help Interfirst best serve the communities of the Chicago area,” said Dhaval Patel, Senior Vice President at Interfirst. “We’re in the people business. Buying a house or refinancing your property is a big decision – we’re literally entrusted with the most significant financial decision many people make. When it comes to being trusted for serving others, few people know the needs of their neighbors better than teachers.

“While supporting those who’ve done so much to serve others is certainly the right thing to do, this decision also makes good business sense. Teachers are among the most driven, hard-working, and service-oriented people in a community, and those are the qualities we want in our mortgage loan officers.”

All 500 of the new mortgage loan officers will have the opportunity to undergo a full, expedited training and accreditation program, at no cost to them. This training can be completed in a matter of weeks and provides an important onramp for a career in the mortgage industry at a time when the Chicago real estate market has seen double-digit annual growth in home sales.

Additionally, in contrast to many other mortgage companies, Interfirst pays all its mortgage loan officers an average base salary in addition to performance-based bonuses, rather than exclusively paying in commissions. Many new mortgage loan officers at Interfirst earn an annual income of between $44,000 and $68,000 and have the opportunity to earn much more.

Those interested in applying for these positions or learning more about this new investment should go to joininterfirst.com.

ABOUT INTERFIRST
Interfirst is an Illinois based mortgage originating company, focused on improving the way consumers obtain residential mortgages. Interfirst’s digital approach is changing the mortgage industry, and their technology allows licensed loan officers to deliver real value, service and follow through.

SOURCE Interfirst Mortgage Company

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@properties is expanding into Indianapolis with the addition of locally based Plat Collective as a new franchise.

The firm will rebrand as @properties in the next 60 days, according to a press release.

Founded in 2011 by Mark Nottingham and Rex Fisher, Plat Collective closed $411 million in 2020 and is targeting $650 million in 2021. @properties plans to leverage its [email protected] agent technology and its marketing, training and business-development systems to help the new franchise expand in the Indianapolis metro area.

The new franchise will be the fourth for Chicago-based @properties, which has others in Detroit, Dallas and La Crosse, Wis. @properties noted that the Indianapolis residential brokerage landscape has experienced singificant changes recently with the entry of Compass in July and the acquisition of the F. C. Tucker Co. by Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. Plat Collective is the only remaining residential firm in Indianapolis that is locally owned, the firm said.

“We love @properties’ independent spirit and local focus, which feels so much like our own,” Fisher said. “Truly,
@properties feels like Plat, but a life stage ahead of us. Franchising with them will enable us to retain our small-company feel, while giving our agents and staff access to the leading-edge tech and systems of a major national brokerage.”

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The program “Home Sweet Home Chicago” that airs on WGN(AM) on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. is sponsored by David Hochberg, MegaPros, J.C. Restoration, Inc., Builder Supply Outlet, Dykstra Home Services, ComEd, Law Offices of David R. Schlueter, Rose Pest Solutions, Amy Kite, Perma-Seal, Lindemann Chimney Co., Robert R. Andreas & Sons, Inc., Mr. Floor, Lindholm Roofing, Donna Sattler, Fidelity National Title, Executive Green Carpet Cleaning, Rae Kaplan, Jill Van Riet, Next Door and Window, Peerless Fence Company, Joe Cotton Ford, Miracle Method, RJ Graham Plumbing, JC Licht, Opem Tax Advocates, Silverthorne Home Builders, Modern Mill Solar, and BMO Harris Bank.

– Click for more on David Hochberg and to meet our sponsors.

– See Videos of the Show’s Experts Guests.

– Click to visit the Team Hochberg website to leave a question for David or any of the Home Sweet Home Chicago experts.

– Illinois Association of County Veterans Assistance Commissions Directory.

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The program “Home Sweet Home Chicago” that airs on WGN(AM) on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. is sponsored by David Hochberg, MegaPros, J.C. Restoration, Inc., Builder Supply Outlet, Dykstra Home Services, ComEd, Law Offices of David R. Schlueter, Rose Pest Solutions, Amy Kite, Perma-Seal, Lindemann Chimney Co., Robert R. Andreas & Sons, Inc., Mr. Floor, Lindholm Roofing, Donna Sattler, Fidelity National Title, Executive Green Carpet Cleaning, Rae Kaplan, Jill Van Riet, Next Door and Window, Peerless Fence Company, Joe Cotton Ford, Miracle Method, RJ Graham Plumbing, JC Licht, Opem Tax Advocates, Silverthorne Home Builders, Modern Mill Solar, and BMO Harris Bank.

– Click for more on David Hochberg and to meet our sponsors.

– See Videos of the Show’s Experts Guests.

– Click to visit the Team Hochberg website to leave a question for David or any of the Home Sweet Home Chicago experts.

– Illinois Association of County Veterans Assistance Commissions Directory.

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Price is also a factor. The two dozen Parkline condos were offered at an average of about $711 a square foot. Sellers of Loop condos, emerging from a brutal 2020 market, have been accepting prices well below that. Loop condos that sold in the past year at $1.5 million and up went at an average of about $637 a foot, according to Crain’s research in Midwest Real Estate Data’s sales records. 

The Loop sales were all resales in existing buildings, as opposed to Parkline, a new building with the latest amenities and finishes, but buyers in that price category may not have been willing to pony up for the higher pricing.

Typically, a condo sales program starts well ahead of delivery, while apartment leasing doesn’t begin until units are available for delivery. The Parkline sales effort began the same week in March 2020 that Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued the first stay-home order. Leasing started in February 2021, when downtown reopening was imminent. 

The condos, about 2,100 to 3,550 square feet, were built for a higher-end market than the apartments, which are 500 to 1,330 square feet. They will now be offered as a separate, more luxurious rental tier called the penthouse collection, with its own entrance from the shared lobby and its own amenity floor, as well as access to the building’s two other floors of amenities. 

Rents top out at about $4,500 on the lower floors, Roszak said, and will start at $9,000 in the penthouse collection. 

The developers are announcing the switch to all apartments today, less than two weeks after Crain’s reported that Moceri + Roszak is trying to sell the leased-up portion of the building. Roszak said the sale offering, now the entire 26 floors, “will be a simpler deal.”

John Grafft, a Compass agent who is not associated with the developers, shot a tour inside the Parkline penthouse collection, shown below. 

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The Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board has decided former President Donald Trump is due a $1 million refund on his skyscraper’s 2011 tax bill, ruling last month that the Cook County Board of Review overestimated the value of the building’s hotel rooms and retail space.

But the Cook County State’s Attorney has filed suit with the Illinois Appellate Court, seeking to block the tax refund, which has yet to be issued.

If Trump ends up with the tax refund, it would come out of property taxes due to the city of Chicago and eight other government agencies, including Chicago Public Schools, which stands to lose the biggest chunk of money, about $540,000.

It’s the latest twist in the case originally filed by Ald. Edward M. Burke, whose law firm argued Cook County officials had over-assessed Trump’s skyscraper.

Burke’s former law firm Klafter & Burke had won more than $14 million in tax breaks for Trump over a dozen years, but the alderman ended the relationship in 2018, citing “irreconcilable differences” between the Chicago Democrat who represents a predominantly Hispanic 14th Ward, where residents objected to many of the Republican president’s policies.

A refund on the property tax bill for Trump International Hotel & Tower is being disputed.Sun-Times file photo

Burke has since been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he blocked businesses from getting city permits unless they hired his law firm. He has left the firm, but remains on the City Council while awaiting trial.

Trump’s current attorney, Patrick McNerney, couldn’t be reached for comment regarding the 2011 case that languished before the state agency for the past decade.

The appeal involves only the hotel rooms and the retail spaces, including the vacant storefronts along the Chicago River, which occupy about a third of the skyscraper. The residential condos aren’t part of this case.

Trump originally argued his vacant stores had no value because he never found any tenants to lease them. But the state agency rejected that argument, saying in a written opinion that those empty spaces “add contributory value to the overall building.”

Nevertheless, the state agency’s board voted 5-0 on June 2 to reduce the assessments on the building’s commercial property, which would trigger a refund of $1.03 million for Trump, slightly less than Burke had requested.

It’s contrary to a decision written by a hearing officer for the state agency in early 2018, who rejected Burke’s attempts to win a refund for Trump, arguing they had failed to prove that the county overvalued the building.

That report was shelved, and a new report was written by another staff member, who argued Trump and Burke had proven the skyscraper was overvalued and was entitled to a refund of $1 million. But the state agency delayed acting on the case while Trump was still president.

Then in November 2019, an anonymous employee from the state agency filed a complaint with the Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General, alleging the agency’s executive director, Mauro Glorioso, was leading the charge to give Trump a refund. Glorioso had made a few small campaign contributions. Glorioso has denied those allegations in a lawsuit he has since filed against the Chicago Sun-Times for disclosing the investigation.

The inspector general’s investigation prompted Gov. J.B. Pritzker to oust Glorioso last fall, replacing him with Michael O’Malley, an assistant Cook County state’s attorney, who has worked in the prosecutor’s real estate and public corruption units. O’Malley told the board the Trump case would remain on hold until the inspector general’s investigation was concluded.

O’Malley and the inspector general’s top lawyer declined to say if the investigation has concluded, but the board approved the rewritten staff report nearly two months ago, saying Trump’s company “had met its burden warranting reduction.”

On July 9, the county state’s attorney appealed to the Illinois Appellate Court. The Illinois Attorney General’s office intervened in the case on Monday on behalf of the appeal board.

Any decision by the appellate court can be appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, headed by Burke’s wife, Chief Justice Anne M. Burke.

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