The Most-Wanted Destinations for U.S. Homebuyers Looking Abroad

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on Point2.

If 2021 and especially 2022 were the years when work-from-anywhere started capturing homebuyers’ imagination, then the last 12 months prove the trend could be subsiding.

Whether they’re looking for vacation homes or investment opportunities, Americans’ internet searches are still gravitating toward “homes for sale in Mexico,” “Canada real estate” and “beachfront homes for sale in Costa Rica.”

However, searches for homes in many exotic locations saw more modest increases compared with last year.

So, to discover the most desirable homebuying destinations and see how buyers’ interests have changed compared to last year’s report, we analyzed what home seekers are searching for, looking at more than 2,000 real estate-related keyword searches on islands, countries and cities in the Americas.

Keep reading to see what we learned.

The Main Findings

Here are the main findings:

• Mexico remains undefeated: With more than 130,000 monthly visits, this land of endless, dazzling beaches and rich culture continues to attract buyers, despite a more subdued increase in interest in the last 12 months.
• With an enormous 54% increase in number of searches, Canada also retains its spot in Americans’ hearts. America’s northern neighbor is the runner-up vacation destination for the sixth consecutive year.
• Just like last year, Costa Rica rounds out the podium, followed closely by Puerto Rico.
• Among the top 20 most desirable locations, six of them recorded drops in interest during the last 12 months, while the remaining 14 all saw increases in the number of searches. Canada (+54%), Ecuador (+42%) and Argentina (+40%) lead in this respect.

Top 10 Home-Buying Destinations in the Americas

Based on the Google search patterns of U.S. users, Point2 found these are the top homebuying destinations:

1. Mexico
2. Canada
3. Costa Rica
4. Puerto Rico
5. Belize
6. Panama
7. Bahamas
8. Dominican Republic
9. U.S. Virgin Islands
10. Jamaica

Let’s dive into the details.

No. 1 Mexico Keeps Its Crown Despite Modest Growth in Interest

Compared with the same period last year, searches for real estate-related keywords in connection to Mexico and its most desirable locations have increased just 3%.

This is a far cry from last year, when the number of searches for homes in this country exploded by 60%.

This could prove that the pioneers leading the work-from-everywhere movement are all done searching and buying, leaving the laggards behind.

Or, it could be that this year, American buyers have zoomed in on other destinations: With a 54% year-over-year growth in real estate-related searches, it would appear that Canada’s calmer and more peaceful lifestyle is becoming more appealing to American home seekers than Mexico’s dreamy beaches and lively, vibrant culture.

Despite the drop, Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende and Cabo San Lucas, along with Tulum and Merida remain the most sought-after locations, just as in previous years.

No. 2 Canada Remains Runner-Up, Despite Significant 54% Jump in Searches

After the 13% drop in searches that Canada recorded in 2021 and 2022, interest in homes for sale here came back with a bang. In the past 12 months, searches for real estate north of the border skyrocketed by 54%.

Jokingly or not, American buyers have a history of blowing up the internet looking for homes in Canada for various reasons.

Beginning with polarizing election results and ending with more financially sound reasons, like investment opportunities or moving for work, it would appear that searching for real estate in Canada provides solace, a few moments of escapism or possibly an actual real home at the end of the search process.

But, it could also be that the factors that prevent foreign buyers from buying homes in the U.S. are also the factors pushing American homebuyers to look for homes elsewhere. As NAR’s Annual Foreign Investment report emphasizes:

“Sharply lower housing inventory in the U.S. and higher borrowing costs across the world have dented international buyers for two straight years,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.”

And what are Americans’ favorite destinations in Canada? It was Vancouver, British Columbia; Toronto, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec; Calgary, Alberta; and Ottawa, Ontario, that took the top spots, as searches for homes for sale in these cities represented more than 60% of the total searches.

No. 3 Costa Rica Rounds Out the Podium, Cementing Its Tropical Paradise Status

Although the top three are virtually unchanged, it’s the changes in interest and number of searches that truly point to yearly nuances and differences in trends.

Like Mexico, Costa Rica recorded a more subdued increase than Canada’s 54%, but it’s been enough to keep it ranking high.

Searches for real estate in Costa Rica increased 7% in the last 12 months. Similar to previous years, locations and cities like Santa Ana; Tamarindo; Jaco; San Rafael; and Nosara capture the imagination of American homebuyers.

With its exquisite beaches, lush green rainforests, amazing national parks and adventure tourism opportunities, Costa Rica has something perfect for everyone. And if that wasn’t enough, this South American slice of paradise is extremely welcoming and has high real estate investment yields, according to a recent report:

“Costa Rica is known for being one of the most proactive countries in the world when it comes to protecting nature, and it has a relatively low crime rate. It’s also very open to foreign investors looking to buy real estate, which is why it’s become popular with retirees and other expats from Europe and North America.

“Some 120,000 U.S. citizens live in Costa Rica. It has property yields that are nearly double that of Canada.”

Who Is the American Homebuyer Looking for Property in Mexico?

User behavior and demographic data on our portal reveal that the American homebuyer looking for property in Mexico is an older millennial man interested in houses for sale.

Almost 6 in 10 home seekers are men and most searches (23.7%) are performed by buyers in the 35 to 44 age group.

The surprising part is that people in the youngest age bracket (18 to 24 years old) are driving traffic to Mexico’s real estate pages more than retirees: People aged 65 and over, who might be interested in warmer climate areas to buy a home and retire to are outnumbered by their much younger peers.

What also stands out is the share of people looking to buy land.

Whether these are families looking to build their perfect homes or investors, searches related to vacant land for sale in Mexico represent more than 10% of all real estate-related searches.

Methodology

Point2, a division of Yardi Systems Inc., covers real estate trends and news. Point2 studies are based on internal data, public records, governmental sources, online research and other reliable third-party agencies.

• To discover the most-searched destinations for Americans who were looking to buy property abroad, we analyzed more than 2,000 keywords related to real estate in combination with all of the countries and territories from the Americas.
• We used Ahrefs.com to extract the average number of searches per month, for the past 12 months (July 2022 to June 2023).
• We then ranked these locations based on their accumulated number of searches.
• For this study, we analyzed the same keywords, during the same periods of time as in previous editions (2015, 2018, 2021 and 2022) to be able to accurately assess and compare the evolution of homebuyers’ interest.
• To discover the profile of the American homebuyer in Mexico, we analyzed search patterns on our portal. User behavior and demographic data were based on searches conducted over the last year, between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, by users located within the United States.