Russians Snap Up Big Housing Deals in the U.S., Rank 9th Among Top U.S. Real Estate Buyers

Russian homebuyers placed 9th on the list of international buyers who bought U.S. properties, a report on the Moscow Times noted.

Utilizing data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the report noted that Russian homebuyers accounted for one percent of reported sales. Russian buyers made up 2 percent of property sales between 2012 and 2013.

Canadian buyers maintained the most number of purchases at 19 percent. China, which accounted for 16 percent of the sales, according to NAR data, topped the list in terms of dollar volume. Wealthy Chinese buyers real estate assets estimated at $22 billion.

Chinese buyers have also overtaken Russians in the NYC real estate market, according to several reports.

Moneyed Russians scrambled to buy U.S. properties, mostly in New York, due to brewing political unrest in the Russian Federation and its Moscow’s slowing economy. Their activities have simmered down, however, after the United States imposed sanctions on Russia, Reuters reported.

A Voices of America report revealed that Russian buyers who “long sought safe investments in the west” had a fondness for high-rise condominiums in New York and waterfront mansions in Miami.

Foreign buyers dominated real estate-related news this week following the release of NAR’s 2014 Profile of International Home Buying Activity. In total, these foreign home buyers bought $92.2 billion worth of properties.

“We live in an international marketplace; so while all real estate is local, that does not mean that all property buyers are,” said NAR President Steve Brown.

“Foreign buyers are being enticed to U.S. real estate because of what they recognize as attractive prices, economic stability, and an incredible opportunity for investment in their future,” he added.

Foreign buyers bought the most properties in Florida, California, Arizona and Texas. Sales in these four states accounted for 55 percent, according to NAR.

One web site that could ease and shorten foreign buyers’ home search process is Nestbuilder.com. The consumer web site, which serves home to over 1.6 million video listings, is one of the fastest-growing online real estate platforms for property searches and home virtual tours.

The web site also features a video marketing platform for real estate agents and brokers called Nestbuilder Agent equipped with search engine optimization and email marketing tools, and an analytics dashboard where they can customize campaigns and identify leads.

Nestbuilder.com was developed by RealBiz Media Group, Inc. (OTCQB), a digital media company based in Fort Lauderdale Florida.