Foreign Investment Growing in Tampa Bay Area

As development hot spots such as Miami overheat, market watchers say foreign investors are increasingly spending their yen, yuan and loonies in Tampa Bay — even as the source of their spending remains largely hidden from view.

"Tampa is becoming as popular as South Florida with foreign investors, and many of the same retailers and companies in both markets," David Sobelman, a managing partner of commercial real estate brokerage Calkain Cos., wrote last year in a report to investors. Tampa Bay, he added, is arising "as a more slow and steady alternative to the rest of the state."

The Sunshine State's reputation as bait for foreign spenders and snowbirds is legendary. One in four foreign buyers of American homes, townhomes or condos last year chose Florida, spending more than $6 billion, Realtors' data show.

About $370 million of that was spent in Tampa Bay, mostly from buyers in Canada, France and the United Kingdom. And to win over foreign buyers, who almost always pay in cash, Realtors here have done everything from hosting social outings for Russian prospects to chartering tour buses for Chinese buyers hoping to scout out suburban homes.

Source "Foreign real estate investors funnel millions toward Tampa Bay as South Florida market overheats," Tampa Bay Times, (February 21, 2014)