International buyers see deals in Florida real estate

Well, at least Florida's struggling real estate market has been good for some.

Apparently, plummeting values combined with a weak U.S. dollar is making Sunshine State real estate a little more desirable for international buyers, according to a survey from the Florida Realtors.

Two out of every three Realtors in the state had at least one international transaction within the past year, and that's helped offset declines in home sales.

The National Association of Realtors and the Florida Realtors recently conducted a survey of Florida agents. A total of 936 responses were received about their experiences with International buyers.

Here are some of the highlights:

•Sixty-five percent said they worked with an international client in the past 12 months. One in five worked with two international clients, and 18 percent working with three or more.

•Half of the respondents said international clients accounted for 25 percent or less of their business; 15 percent said international homebuyers accounted for more than half of their business.

•One in three said that international clients were an increasing share of their customers in the past two years, while just under half noted that their share of international clients stayed about the same.

•Canada had the largest share of buyers, accounting for 36 percent of recent sales. Buyers from the United Kingdom accounted for 15 percent, and the rest of Western Europe accounted for an additional 14 percent.

Latin America, defined for the report as Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America, accounted for 16 percent. Specific countries with a small but significant share of sales included Germany (5 percent), Venezuela (3 percent), Brazil (3 percent) and France (3 percent).