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 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 to 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 keywords in islands, countries, territories and cities in the Americas. Here are the main findings:
- Mexico remains undefeated: With more than 130k 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 6th consecutive year.
- Just like last year, Costa Rica rounds out the podium, followed closely by Puerto Rico.
- Among the top 20 most desirable locations, 6 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.
# 1 Mexico Keeps Its Crown Despite Modest Growth in Interest
Compared to the same period last year, searches for real estate-related keywords in connection to Mexico and its most desirable locations have only increased 3%. This is a far cry from last year’s numbers, when 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% Y-o-Y 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 like in previous years.
# 2 Canada Remains Runner-Up, Despite Significant 54% Jump in Searches
After the 13% drop 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, BC; Toronto, ON; Montreal, QC; Calgary, AB and Ottawa, ON that took the top spots, as searches for homes for sale in these cities represented more than 60% of the total searches.
# 3 Costa Rica Rounds Out the Podium, Cementing Its Tropical Paradise Status
Although the top three is 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, it’s locations and cities like Santa Ana; Tamarindo; Jaco; San Rafael and Nosara that capture the imagination of American homebuyers.
With its exquisite beaches, lush green rainforests, amazing national parks and adventure tourism opportunities, Costa Rica has the perfect something 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.”
Number of Searches for Vacation Homes Increased in 17 Locations in the Americas in 2023
Although we’re not talking huge numbers (as real estate-related searches went from 1,140 to 1,990 per month) Turks and Caicos claimed the most significant spike in interest from American homebuyers: The 75% increase made Turks and Caicos jump 11 positions, climbing all the way to number 29.
Aside from Canada, one more country saw an increase in searches of more than 50%: Thanks to its 52% growth, Curaçao entered this year’s top 30 most wanted locations.
Despite the financial instability and mortgage hikes that plagued the nation, or maybe because of it, interest in real estate increased in 17 locations and stayed level in one other, proving that U.S. home seekers are still captivated by the possibility of owning property in exotic locations.
In 12 other places, however, interest declined. The location that stands out is Puerto Rico: After being on the podium in 2018, Puerto Rico exchanged ranks with Costa Rica and in 2023, searches for real estate in the U.S. territory dropped 13%, although this was not enough to rob it of its 4th spot in the final ranking.
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 home or investors, searches related to vacant land for sale in Mexico represent more than 10% of all the real estate-related searches.
Update: The title of this article has been updated to better reflect the content of the report, which focuses on American homebuyers’ online searches for properties in the islands, countries and territories included in what is known as the Americas.
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 in the Americas, 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 1st, 2022 and June 30th 2023 by users located within the United States.
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