Many of us may think that foreign investment is something that only economists track, but data shows that it has a direct impact on the real estate market, both commercial and residential. When global companies build factories, offices, and logistics hubs here, they don't just create jobs. They create demand for land, buildings, housing, and economic growth. All of that translates into demand for homes, commercial space, and community development.

The US Remains #1 in Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs)

Let's start with the big picture. According to UNCTAD (UN Trade and Development), the U.S. continues to be the world's favorite place for investors. In 2024, nearly $279 billion in new foreign capital came here – more than any other country. That's about one in every five dollars of worldwide investment. In fact, this is a 20% increase from a year ago and 38% from 2014. 

In the meantime, the U.S. outperformed other large players in the global market. China saw inflows drop by 29%; Europe had sharp declines in countries like Germany (-89%) and Spain (-39%). In Hong Kong (+3%) and Singapore (+6%), foreign direct investments increased – but at a significantly lower rate than in the U.S. This suggests that, even in uncertain times, America remains the preferred destination for investment. 

Foreign Investors Own $5.7 Trillion, and It Keeps Growing

The long-term trend is clear: Foreign investors now own about $5.7 trillion in U.S. assets. This is almost double what they did just a decade ago. This also shows that global capital is here to stay.

Specifically, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) tracks this as the "stock of foreign direct investment." In simple terms, that's the total value of all U.S. businesses owned by foreign investors. In this measure, it includes not only the money they have put in, but also the profits those businesses generate and reinvest in our country. Thus, this reflects the lasting footprint of foreign ownership in the American economy.

So, who is investing in our country? The biggest players are Japan, the U.K. and Canada, each with hundreds of billions invested. In the meantime, most of these top investors were able to nearly double their investments in the past decade. For example, Japan increased its stake from $371.9 billion in 2014 to $754.1 billion in 2024. Canada's investment also surged, rising from $273.9 billion to $732.9 billion during the same period.

Even smaller investors have made big gains. Ireland is a perfect example: Its investments jumped from just $26.4 billion in 2014 to $284.4 billion in 2024.

Where does most of this money go? About 42% of foreign investment is still in manufacturing. But real estate has grown much faster. In fact, foreign investment in U.S. real estate has increased at nearly twice the pace of overall FDI, and almost twice the pace of manufacturing. Over the last decade, real estate has experienced the second-largest increase among all industries, behind only retail trade. As a result, the real estate share of foreign investment rose from 2.3% in 2014 to 3.3% in 2024. That may sound small, but remember that when the total is in the trillions, it equals tens of billions of dollars. In this case, that small change added more than $120 billion in foreign real estate investment over the last decade. 

New Foreign Investments: Slower Than Before, but Still Strong

However, the story looks different when we look at just the "new projects" or "new investments" – the dollars spent to acquire or start U.S. businesses in 2024. Specifically, new foreign investment was down 14.2% from the previous year and 42% lower than a decade ago. 

New foreign investments peaked in 2015, at nearly $450 billion. In 2021, activity increased again after the pandemic; but since then, flows have cooled, falling sharply in 2022 and continuing to decline in both 2023 and 2024. 

Why this slowdown? A combination of factors drove this trend: a natural cooling after the post-pandemic boom, higher interest rates and financing costs, and global caution in the face of uncertainty. But, even at these lower levels, the U.S. continues to attract more new FDI than most other countries. By industry, manufacturing and finance dominate these new projects, while real estate accounted for a smaller share in 2024. The top countries investing in the real estate industry in 2024 were Japan ($31.3B), Germany ($30.2B), and the United Kingdom ($15.3B). More than 40% of these investments were made by these three countries.

Which States Are Winning? From Global Capital to Local Households

Here is where this story gets local. The BEA also tracks where those new investments are going by state, and in 2024, the winners were:

  • Texas: $22.8 billion
  • Georgia: $16.3 billion
  • California: $12.9 billion

Specifically, Georgia and Texas significantly increased their foreign investment flows, each adding about $10 billion within a year. In fact, Georgia's foreign investment in 2024 was more than six times higher than in 2014.

But what do these inflows of global capital mean for local communities? As expected, the jobs followed the money. At the national level, 204,200 jobs were created in 2024 through new foreign-backed projects, representing 10% of all jobs created that year. Some states benefited even more. Florida (32,700 jobs), Texas (18,200 jobs), New York (14,200 jobs), California (11,700 jobs), and Ohio (10,300 jobs) were the top five states where foreign investment created the most jobs. 

After comparing it with the local job creation in every state, Massachusetts, Iowa, Mississippi, Oregon, and Ohio are the states with the highest share of new jobs from foreign-backed projects. In these states, more than 30% of all new jobs in 2024 in these states were created by foreign-backed projects.

And remember: Every one of those jobs represents a family or group looking for a house to live in. Companies also need warehouses, offices, retail space, and land. It's a ripple effect that has an impact on both residential and commercial real estate.

Why REALTORS® Should Care

So, why should REALTORS® keep an eye on foreign investment data? Because it's not just about global finance. It's about local opportunities. More foreign capital means more warehouses, industrial parks, and offices being built. More jobs mean more families moving in and looking for homes, affecting housing demand in those markets. Thus, when a foreign auto manufacturer announces a new plant in Georgia, this translates to more buyers looking for homes, more renters needing apartments, and more demand for commercial space.