Foreign buyers purchased $45.3 billion worth of residential real estate in the U.S. between April 2025 and March 2026, a 19.1% decrease from the previous 12 months, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on July 29, 2026. The number of properties purchased by foreigners fell by 14%—from 78,100 to 67,100. This is the second-
lowest figure since 2009, when the NAR began tracking these statistics. The median purchase price was $465,000.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun attributed the decline in activity to an overall reduction in international tourism and travel to the United States. According to him, even a slight weakening of the dollar, which boosted foreign buyers’ purchasing power, was unable to offset high prices and limited housing supply.
Among foreign buyers who abandoned planned transactions, 33% were unable to find a suitable property, 28% found prices too high, and 19% encountered difficulties related to immigration regulations. High mortgage rates, inflation, trade policy, and geopolitical uncertainty placed additional pressure on demand.
Canadian citizens accounted for 16% of all foreign purchases, acquiring 10,700 properties worth $5.2 billion. Mexico ranked second with a 14% share and 9,400 transactions totaling $5 billion.
Buyers from China dropped from first to third place in terms of the number of purchases, accounting for 11% of foreign demand. However, they retained the lead in total transaction value at $7.6 billion. The average price of a property purchased by Chinese buyers was approximately $1 million.
The top five groups of foreign buyers also included citizens of India, with a 9% share and $3.7 billion in transactions, as well as the United Kingdom—4% and $1.2 billion, respectively.
Florida retained its status as the most popular destination for foreign buyers, accounting for 20% of all transactions. California accounted for 19%, Texas for 12%, and New Jersey and Georgia for 4% each. Foreign buyers continued to focus on the higher-end segment of the market. The median price of the homes they purchased was $465,000, compared to $413,600 for all existing-home transactions in the U.S. About 15% of foreign buyers purchased properties valued at over $1 million. Nearly half of the transactions—48%—were paid for entirely in cash, while among all U.S. homebuyers, this figure stood at 28%. Foreign buyers purchased about half of the properties for vacation use, rental income, or a combination of these purposes.
According to NAR statistics, foreign buyers include both non-residents who permanently reside outside the U.S. and recent immigrants and holders of non-immigrant visas who have been living in the country for more than six months. Non-residents purchased 29,500 properties worth $23.5 billion, while foreign nationals residing in the U.S. purchased 37,600 properties worth $21.8 billion.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) brings together professionals in the residential and commercial real estate markets. The study of international transactions is based on a survey of association members and has been published annually since 2009.
On Thursday, July 30, Kyiv will host the Ukrainian Investment Congress and the 17th All-Ukrainian Annual Architectural Competition “Interior of the Year 2026.”
The event will take place on the third floor of the “Parkovy” Congress and Exhibition Center at 16a Parkova Road.
The Ukrainian Investment Congress is positioned as a professional platform for investors, developers, representatives of the construction industry, architects, designers, and company executives operating in the Ukrainian real estate market to meet.
According to the organizers, the congress program is expected to attract over 6,000 visitors and more than 100 speakers, feature 15 panel discussions, and include over 50 exhibition booths. The main objectives of the event are to identify partners and investors, present new projects and technologies, develop business contacts, and discuss the prospects of the Ukrainian investment and construction market.
At the same time, the Parkovy Exhibition and Convention Center will host the 17th All-Ukrainian Annual Architecture Competition “Interior of the Year 2026,” organized by the DMNTR media group. The competition brings together interior designers, architects, developers, entrepreneurs, and investors and aims to promote completed architectural and interior design solutions.
The competition features projects for residential interiors of various sizes, private homes, offices, commercial spaces, HoReCa establishments, and public and administrative buildings. Separate categories are dedicated to product design, landscape architecture, lighting, and unbuilt projects and visualizations.
The organizers note that the competition aims to showcase solutions that increase the added value of real estate properties, facilitate their sale, and set new quality standards for residential and commercial spaces.
The event program and registration are available on the website: www.ibc-ua.info/program.
Contact numbers:
+380 77 777 25 47
+380 44 461 91 28
Venue: “Parkovy” Exhibition and Convention Center, 16a Parkova Road, Kyiv, third floor.
Interfax-Ukraine is the information partner.
ARCHITECTURE, CONGRESS, DMNTR, INVESTMENT, KYIV, Parkovy, REAL ESTATE
The growth potential for the market capitalization of Transcarpathia’s tourism clusters over the next three years could reach 40–50%, and 60% for the Skole District in Lviv Oblast, according to the study “Promised vs. Real” by Ribas Invest and Ribas Hotels Group.
As explained to the “Interfax-Ukraine” news agency, this level of market capitalization is driven by growing tourism demand in regions where competition among professional developers remains minimal.
“The market has learned to look not where everything has already been built, but where infrastructure is just taking shape. The difference in land prices between overheated and new locations is now as much as tenfold—this is the ‘window’ for entry before capital floods in,” explained Artur Lupashko, founder of Ribas Hotels Group.
As part of a comprehensive audit of Ukraine’s hotel and recreational development sector, Ribas Invest has identified clusters of locations where entry costs have not yet peaked, despite rapidly growing demand. These include, in particular, the Sinyak–Pylypets–Podobovets corridor in Zakarpattia, the Skole–Tukhlya corridor in Lviv Oblast, and the Kaniv–Cherkasy corridor along the Dnipro River.
According to the study, the average price per 100 square meters of land in the village of Polyanytsia (Bukovel) is $25,000–45,000, in Pylypets—$3,500–6,000, and in the Skole District—$1,500–3,000. The difference in land prices between these locations reaches 1,000%, while the cost of renting a ready-to-use room differs by only 20–25%.
Researchers also note that by 2026, Zakarpattia will have upgraded rail and road logistics, which will make the region comparable to Ivano-Frankivsk in terms of accessibility—at one-third the cost of assets.
Other promising destinations include the Shatsk–Svitiaz lake region in Volyn, the suburbs of Kyiv, and the Odesa coast, where demand is driven by the desire for safe suburban getaways and energy-independent real estate.
Ribas Hotels Group—founded in 2014 in Odesa—is an international full-cycle hotel management company and a hotel business ecosystem. It integrates the entire process—from site selection, design, and construction to management, franchising, and investment.
Ribas Hotels Group is the only hotel group that independently handles all stages of creating and developing hotel projects.
The company’s portfolio includes 56 projects currently under construction, in the launch phase, or under management, including locations in Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, and Bali. The company develops 3-, 4-, and 5-star city and resort hotels under the brands Ribas Hotels, Ribas Rooms, WOL home + hotel, and Mandra Moments.
The operator’s total room inventory exceeds 1,000 rooms.
HOTEL, INVESTMENT, RIBAS, Skole District, TOURISM, ZAKARPATTIA
The Ukraine-Philippines Business Forum, attended by more than 65 representatives of companies, government agencies, financial institutions, law firms, and business associations from both countries, took place on July 23 in Makati City, Philippines.
The event opened with video messages from Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga and a speech by Philippine Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Seferino Rodolfo.
Participants discussed opportunities for developing bilateral cooperation in the agri-food sector, information technology, digital services, the food industry, creative industries, as well as in the defense sector and the field of dual-use technologies.
During the forum, the business environment in Ukraine and the Philippines was presented, along with financial and legal tools for foreign companies, the results of Ukraine’s digital transformation, and the capabilities of Ukraine’s defense-industrial complex.
Representatives from the Makati Business Club, the Nordic Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry discussed market access, attracting investment, and developing direct contacts between companies with entrepreneurs. These organizations, together with the Ukrainian Embassy, served as partners for the forum.
The event concluded with bilateral B2B matchmaking sessions, during which Ukrainian and Philippine companies were able to discuss specific projects and areas for further cooperation.
The forum was the centerpiece of the Ukrainian business mission to the Philippines, scheduled for July 23 through August 1, 2026. Its goal is to expand the presence of Ukrainian companies in the Philippine market and in Southeast Asia as a whole.
In the first half of 2026, Nestlé in Ukraine increased its sales in the country by 19.3% in value (in hryvnia) and by 10% in volume, to 56,000 metric tons, while the entire Ukrainian FMCG market in the categories where the company operates grew by 15% in value and 6% in volume during this period, according to Roman Yanovich, CEO of Nestlé in Ukraine and Moldova.
“This is a signal to invest,” he said, commenting on these results at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday, and explained that overall, the Nestlé Group increased its global sales by 3.6% in the first half of this year, meaning that Ukraine is a growth driver for the company.
According to him, in the first half of 2026, the company invested 5 billion UAH in its operations in Ukraine, of which 200 million UAH went toward developing factories in Ukraine and 4.8 billion UAH toward developing product categories.
“Having invested 5 billion hryvnia in the first half of the year, we plan to invest an amount comparable to last year’s—10 billion hryvnia—by the end of 2026 to ramp up production and maintain the growth momentum we’ve achieved,” said the CEO.
He clarified that investments in factory development are expected to total 1 billion hryvnia based on this year’s results.
According to the CEO, in the confectionery category, sales growth for all players in the Ukrainian market in January–June of this year was 18% in hryvnia and 6% in volume; for prepared foods, 12% and 2%, respectively; for instant coffee, 16% and 4%; infant formula—20% and 7%, other children’s foods—20% and 10%, and animal feed—20% and 10%.
According to him, the market for coffee capsules is growing particularly rapidly—by 30% in value and 16% in volume. This market is small but has the potential to double or triple in size, Yanovich noted.
The CEO noted that Nestlé currently holds approximately half of the Ukrainian ketchup market under the “Torchin” brand and the cocoa market under the Nesquik brand, as well as one-third of the sauce market under the “Torchin” brand.
He added that as part of global campaigns, products under the Felix and ProPlan brands in the pet food category and KitKat in the confectionery category are currently being actively promoted in Ukraine, while local campaigns focus on the “Svitloch,” “Torchin,” and “Mivina” brands, as well as Dolce Gusto coffee capsules and Nesquik.
In addition, during the briefing, company representatives announced plans to expand this year’s culinary product line—which already includes more than 100 items—by approximately 20%. The “Asian line” is growing at the fastest rate—20–25%—while the category of instant noodles in cups is seeing triple-digit growth.
According to Yanovich, there is potential for improvement in the “Svitloch” brand and the coffee business, where the company aims to move up from second place to first, a position currently held by Jacobs.
The CEO stated that due to the increase in enemy shelling of warehouses, logistics is currently the top priority; therefore, the company has developed a plan to deliver goods directly to the supermarket chain without involving its distribution centers in the event of a critical situation.
He cited a labor shortage as another problem, which forced one of the company’s facilities to raise salaries by 30%. At the same time, Yanovych noted that although the company had considered options for hiring foreign workers, it is still trying to recruit staff specifically from among Ukrainians.
Yanovich also reported that in the first half of 2026, charitable donations totaled over 120 million hryvnia, and since the start of the full-scale war, the company has provided charitable aid totaling over 2 billion hryvnia.
Nestlé began operations in Ukraine in 1994 with the opening of a representative office. In 1998, it acquired a controlling stake in CJSC “Lviv Confectionery Factory ‘Svitloch,’” and since 2018, it has owned 100% of the company’s shares. In May 2003, Nestlé Ukraine LLC was founded in Kyiv, and by the end of that year, Nestlé had acquired 100% of the shares in Volyn Holding.
In 2010, Nestlé SA acquired Technocom LLC in Kharkiv, a manufacturer of instant foods under the “Mivina” brand. In 2012, Nestlé Business Service (NBS Europe) was established in Lviv; it is one of Nestlé’s seven service centers worldwide and provides support services to Nestlé divisions in more than 40 countries.
During the war, Nestlé invested EUR43 million in the construction of its fourth factory in Ukraine—in Smolygiv, Volyn Oblast—for the production of pasta, which opened in April 2025, and plans to increase its investment in the facility to EUR70 million by the end of 2027.
Nestlé’s business in Ukraine encompasses the following segments: coffee and beverages, confectionery, prepared foods (cold sauces, seasonings, soups, instant foods), infant and specialized nutrition, ready-to-eat breakfasts, and pet food.
FMCG, INVESTMENT, NESTLE, SALES, UKRAINE
The House of Representatives of Antigua and Barbuda has approved amendments to the citizenship-by-investment program that call for an increase in the mandatory period of physical presence in the country, regular independent audits, and stricter oversight of intermediaries.
The main change will be an increase in the minimum period of physical presence in the country for new citizens from five to 30 days. These days may be spent in Antigua and Barbuda cumulatively over the first five calendar years after obtaining citizenship, rather than annually. The requirement also applies to family members included in the application.
Until now, an investment citizenship holder could lose their citizenship if they did not spend at least five days in the country during the first five years. The amendments replace this requirement with 30 days.
The changes also provide for an annual independent financial audit of the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) and an operational audit every two years. The regulator will have the authority to set common standards for the five Eastern Caribbean states offering investment citizenship, vet agents, and revoke the licenses of intermediaries that do not meet the established requirements. ECCIRA is expected to begin operations in September 2026.
The reform is taking place amid increasing pressure from the European Union. In a letter dated June 25, 2026, the European Commission proposed that Antigua and Barbuda gradually phase out its citizenship-by-investment program by June 1, 2028. Brussels also demanded that individuals subject to EU sanctions be excluded from the program and that background checks on applicants of all nationalities be strengthened.
The government of Antigua and Barbuda emphasizes that it does not intend to shut down the program without securing comparable sources of revenue. Authorities cite revenue from the investment citizenship program as a vital component of non-tax revenue, which funds infrastructure, schools, healthcare facilities, and post-disaster recovery efforts.
The latest detailed statistics published by the CIU cover January–June 2024. During this period, 739 applications were received. The official report takes into account the country of birth of the principal applicant, so these figures cannot be directly equated with the number of passports issued. A single application may also include a spouse, children, and other dependents.
The largest number of applications in the first half of 2024 came from natives of:
China—90 applications, or 12.18%;
the United States—81, or 10.96%;
Nigeria—67, or 9.07%;
Lebanon—50, or 6.77%;
Turkey—44, or 5.95%;
Pakistan—32, or 4.33%;
the United Kingdom—25, or 3.38%;
Iraq – 22, or 2.98%.
Over the past six months, 19 applications were received from Ukrainian nationals, accounting for 2.57% of the total. The same number of applications were submitted by Egyptian nationals. India, Canada, and Morocco each accounted for 21 applications.
From the program’s launch through June 30, 2024, Antigua and Barbuda received 5,203 applications. Chinese nationals accounted for 1,117 applications, or 21.47%; Nigerians—496; the U.S. – 347, Lebanon – 342, Russia – 222, and Syria – 208. However, no new applications from natives of Russia and Belarus were registered in the first half of 2024.
The program has been in effect since 2013 and offers several participation options. The minimum non-refundable contribution to the National Development Fund is $230,000; investment in approved real estate starts at $300,000; and direct investment in a business starts at $1.5 million. Another option involves a contribution of at least $260,000 to the University of the West Indies Campus Fund. Government fees and background check costs are paid separately.
Extending the mandatory stay to 30 days does not change the minimum investment thresholds but increases participants’ actual expenses for airfare and accommodation. At the same time, regular audits and unified regional oversight are intended to increase the program’s transparency and help Caribbean nations maintain visa-free travel with European countries.
Antigua and Barbuda, Caribbean region, CITIZENSHIP, INVESTMENT, MIGRATION
