U.S. homes attract Australian buyers

More Australians are considering buying homes in the United States as the Australian dollar becomes at par with the U.S. dollar according to real estate executives.

There have been more inquiries recently on U.S. properties as firms specializing in American property investments have opened in the country. Vincent Selleck, of 888 U.S. Real Estate told Sydney Morning Herald that, “At the beginning, people were quite skeptical. In the past two months, the spike we've seen is incredible.”

The exchange rate and rising home prices in Australia has made owning an American home an attractive option for locals since U.S. homes prices tend to be 62 percent cheaper than local homes. Moreover, an average home price in the United States decreased by 26 percent to US$171,000 says the National Association of Realtors. In comparison, median house prices in Australia's major cities amounted to US$460,000 in the September.

According to National Association of Realtors, around 2,000 U.S. homes were snapped up by Australian and New Zealand residents this year, comprising about 1 percent of overseas buyers. Most buyers of American homes come from Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom contributed to about 42 percent of all overseas buyers during the same period.

Overseas buyers usually opt to buy in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas. “Australians won't have a major impact on the national market,” Thomas Lawler, founder and president of Lawler Housing and Economic Consulting told the Sydney Morning Herald. “But they could potentially have an impact on certain local markets; parts of Florida, Texas, for example, where any influx of capital for buying is important.”