International real estate buyers make way back to Bay Area

International buyers are making their way back to the Bay Area after trickling away in recent years.

The region appears poised for a comeback thanks to increased interest from overseas in Bay Area properties, the San Francisco Business Times reported. While there’s little hard data to back up the claims, several realtors provided anecdotal evidence of heightened international buyer demand to the Business Times. 

“I think because the [venture capital] money is still in the Bay Area, this is why they want to be here. They want to be here physically and they need to be here for all the mentoring,” Steven Huang, president of the San Francisco Association of Realtors, told the publication “So I’m definitely seeing that on the ground.”

In particular, interest from Asian buyers appears to have increased, according to Amy Kong, founder of San Bruno-based Trust Real Estate and a former president of the Asian Real Estate Association of America. The revived demand in the Bay Area has been in the Peninsula near “good schools” and potentially driven by the Bay Area’s artificial intelligence boom and a real estate market ripe for investment. 

“The real estate market has not been great in both Hong Kong and mainland China, and some of the people relying on all these rental incomes to sustain their living are challenged right now,” Kong said. “Some of the people are thinking about if they have green-card status and things like that, they would rather move back to the States because the real estate here in the States is more stable, and at least the currency is more stable compared to mainland China.” 

Look no further than open houses across Silicon Valley and the Peninsula, according to Compass broker Sia Glafkides. 

“In areas like Stanford Circle, Palo Alto, Hillsborough and Menlo Park, we’re already seeing increased inquiries and activity from foreign buyers — especially families seeking proximity to top schools and tech sector opportunities,” Glafkides told the Business Times. “These buyers are not just purchasing homes; they’re building futures.” 

“The resurgence of foreign investment in U.S. real estate isn’t just a return — it’s a transformation,” Glafkides added. Prospective buyers from China, Taiwan, India and other Asian countries have typically been looking into homes ranging in price from $1.6 million to more than $6 million, she noted. 

Interest has also come in from London and Dubai, Austin Klar of Vanguard Properties told the Business Times.

Still, buyer demand from abroad in the Bay Area hasn’t been what it used to be. 

“We have yet to see a return to foreign buyer interest to the degree we saw a few years ago,” Compass agent Ruchi Goel, who works in Menlo Park and Atherton, told the Business Times. “We are, however, seeing a growing number of buyers who work in the AI technology sector, which has seen a huge influx of VC and private equity investment.”

AI is expected to bring 50,000 to 60,000 new jobs to San Francisco over the next five years, according to a recent report from CBRE. The 5 million square feet of office space in San Francisco currently occupied by AI companies could balloon to as much as 21 million square feet by 2030. 

— Chris Malone Méndez