Favorite areas: where Russians most often buy real estate in America

A new analysis by the National Association of Realtors has examined the behavior of Russian buyers during home purchases to reveal the potential extent of the impact that the European conflict could have on the US housing market, reports MarketWatch.

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Overall, Russians made up just 0,8% of all foreign buyers who bought US residential property between April 2015 and March 2021. During this time, foreign-born buyers accounted for just 1,8% of total existing home sales. Just over half of purchases in Russia were made with cash, up from 27% of total transactions in January.

Florida was the most popular destination for buyers from Russia, accounting for 29% of those deals. Georgia was next at 16%, followed by New York at 13%. But, even in Florida, these deals represent only a small fraction of total home purchases, the report notes. Only 0,2% of homes sold in Florida between July 2020 and June 2021 were sold by Russian buyers.

On the subject: 'Little Moscow' in Florida: is there a threat to the Russian rich in the US

“Russians living abroad may have difficulty paying for their apartments, but the overall impact on the condominium market will be small given the small share of Russian buyers in the housing market,” the National Association of Realtors said.

Only 41% of these buyers currently live abroad, the rest are US residents looking for a permanent home.

One notable difference between Russian buyers and foreign buyers is that Russians tend to prefer condominium apartments. About 26% of Russian citizens purchased apartments in condominiums compared to 17% of real estate transactions involving foreign buyers in general.

This fact points to one of the main consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis for the housing market.

“Foreign buyers living abroad tend to buy apartments based on features that appeal to and suit all foreign buyers, regardless of their nationality,” National Association of Realtors Association research economist Gay Cororaton writes in the report.

“Thus, Russians living abroad may have difficulty paying for their apartments, but the overall impact on the condominium market will be negligible, given the small share of Russian buyers in the housing market,” she said.

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For the same reason, the consequences of any seizure of real estate owned by Russia may be negligible. US officials have signaled that they may try to seize assets belonging to the Russian elite in retaliation for Russia's military actions, and President Joe Biden, in his address to the US Congress, noted that the US government is pursuing their "ill-earned profits."

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