Foreign Assets

Foreign assets

Good news from financial analysts: Foreign investment in real estate—particularly in Florida—is likely to pick up. So says Mark Vitner, chief economist for Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Corp. “The dollar is on sale,” said Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She points to the declining value of the dollar against the euro—the currency of 13 European countries: Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland. Today, a foreign buyer would need only 34,100 euros to make a $50,000 downpayment on a house, compared to 37,920 euros to make the same downpayment at the beginning of the year.

What buyers want most in a home: air conditioning, over-sized garages and walk-in closets, according to NAR’s recent analysis of economic indicators.