New data from Realtor.com®, tracking its own site traffic to calculate buyer demand, found that traffic from international home-buyers grew annually by 1.9% in Q1 2025.
While Canadian homebuyers remain the highest percentage of international traffic (34.7%), that percentage dropped annually from 40.7% in Q1 2024. Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, attributed this dip in part to ongoing tariff policies between the U.S. and Canada—the latest being President Trump’s 50% tariffs on steel (one of the largest imports from Canada to the U.S.).
In the Realtor.com press release, Hale said: “Despite a slight overall uptick in international demand for U.S. housing, the drop from potential Canadian shoppers underscores the impact of recent trade policies on cross-border real estate interest.”
Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu added that Canadian buyers have traditionally fueled international demand in warmer U.S. markets, specifically naming Florida and Arizona.
“A retreat of Canadian homebuyers from the market could soften competition in this segment by reducing seasonal demand and may place downward pressure on property values in the second-home and luxury tiers,” said Xu.
The report exemplifies this trend with Naples, Florida—historically a popular destination for Canadian buyers—which saw its international traffic drop from 73% Canadians in Q4 2024 to only 59.6% in Q1 2025.
Following Canada, the nations that were home to the highest amount of prospective buyer traffic on Realtor.com were the UK (5.7%), Mexico (5.4%), Germany (3.8%) and Australia (3.2%).
The report also uses Realtor.com traffic data to determine the popular U.S. metro area markets for international buyers. Of the top 20 most popular markets, 10 of them were located in either Florida (six metro areas) or Texas (four metro areas).
“The growing appeal of Texas markets to international buyers signals a noteworthy regional shift in investment focus, potentially driven by economic factors and business-friendly environments,” said Hale in the release, with such economic factors including a lower cost of living and lack of a state income tax.
Mexican buyers are also generally most interested in metro areas near the U.S.-Mexico border, which accounts for some interest in certain Texas areas.
“Mexican buyers likely tend to favor U.S. border cities because of their proximity to home, strong cultural and language connections, established family and business networks, and easier access to education, healthcare and cross-border travel—making these areas both practical and familiar for living and investment,” said Xu.
The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida, metro area was by far the U.S. market with the most international home shopper interest. The city accounted for 8.7% of traffic share. The second most popular metro area, the New York City metro area including Newark and Jersey City, New Jersey, only made up 4.9% of traffic share. The full top 10 was:
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach (8.7% of traffic)
- New York-Newark-Jersey City (4.9%)
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California (4.6%)
- Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida (2.9%)
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (2.8%)
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, Texas (2.6%)
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida (2.5%)
- Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, Arizona (2.3%)
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois-Indiana (2%)
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California (1.5%)
From Q1 2024 to Q1 2025, Dallas climbed from number eight on the list up to the top five. The remaining two Texas metros on the list—Austin and San Antonio—entered the list, going from 24th in the ranking to 16th (Austin) and 21st to 19th (San Antonio).
For the full report, click here.
