A newly proposed US visa program can encourage wealthy foreign residents to buy homes in the U.S. and energize the ailing housing market.
This visa proposal is part of an immigration and foreign investment measure launched by Senators Charles Schumer of New York and Mike Lee of Utah. It proposed that a foreigner who can invest at least $500,000 in the US housing market is given a residence visa. The foreign buyer can buy a condo, a single-family home or a townhouse. The money can be spent on one home or can be split to buy one home for residence purposes and another home for rental purposes.
Indeed, if the proposal is analyzed, a total of 700,000 wealthy foreigners buying houses worth $500,000 each would move 700,000 units in various housing markets across the country and put a total of 350 billion US dollars into the thin pockets of owner-sellers and home builders, and eventually into the U.S. economy.
Further on, the foreign purchases are expected to rejuvenate the entire housing market and inspire Americans who are not so confident about the housing market to finally pursue their shelved home buying plans.
The proposed homebuyer visa is attractive because it allows the foreign home buyer to bring his or her spouse and his children younger than 18 years. It however does not include a work visa. The immigrant needs to file a separate application for this visa through the normal process. The residence visa is also lost if the house is sold.
The proponents said that this visa program has no limits on the number of visas to be issued and would not affect the quotas of current immigration programs.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the global market for US residential properties has been approaching $82 billion annually, with 37 percent buying for residence purposes, 28 percent purchasing vacation homes, 16 percent buying for rental purposes and four percent buying for commercial investments.
In the 12-month period ended March 2011, foreigners and recent US immigrants bought homes worth a total of $82 billion, a significant contribution to the total U.S. home sales of $1.07 trillion during the period. Among the 70 countries where residents originated purchase transactions, five countries accounted for 53 percent of the total global purchases of US homes, and these were Canada, Mexico, China, Great Britain and India. The most desired states were Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.
While California attracts a lot of Asian buyers and Arizona and Texas attracts Mexicans, Florida is a favorite of home buyers from South America, Europe and Canada.
Indeed, if this US visa program is approved by Congress and the US president, then the US housing market can get its long-awaited and much needed boost.
Prospective foreign investors in the Tampa housing market are encouraged to contact the real estate professionals of Tampa4U.