A new report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that Chinese purchases of U.S. residences skyrocketed between April 2024 and March 2025 compared to the same period a year earlier.
“While the 78,100 properties purchased represent a significant 44% increase from the previous year, it is still the second-lowest level since NAR began estimating foreign buyer purchases in 2009,” the report explains.
“China remains the largest foreign buyer in terms of the dollar volume of homes purchased,” the report says. “Chinese buyers purchased $13.7 billion of existing homes, up significantly from $7.5 billion in the prior period and remaining the largest due to the average purchase price of $1.2 million.”
More than a third (36%) of Chinese buyers purchased property in California, while 9% purchased in New York. Chinese buyers also had the greatest median purchase price of $759,600. More than two-thirds of Chinese buyers (71%) also made an all-cash purchase.
Canadians were the second-largest buyers of U.S. real estate, followed by those from Mexico and India.
Several actions have been taken to limit Chinese acquisition of U.S. land. In June, Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) signed a bill into law that bans entities connected to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from purchasing land in the state. The law will go into effect on September 1.
Similarly, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced during a press conference with Trump administration officials that the U.S. will move to ban Chinese ownership of farmland. The National Farm Security Action Plan, published on the USDA website, states that land owned by foreign nationals constitutes a “potential threat to national security and future economic prosperity.”
“USDA will ensure transparency of foreign U.S. agricultural land ownership and pursue robust and overdue updates to data collection, reporting, and analysis,” the plan states. The agency will also work with state and federal-level partners to “take swift legislative or executive action to end the direct or indirect purchase or control of American farmland by nationals from countries of concern or other foreign adversaries.”
