????不久以前，外國(guó)買家似乎撐起了美國(guó)房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng),，可忽然之間,，他們又開始離場(chǎng)了。

????過(guò)去幾年里,，美國(guó)房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)的少數(shù)幾個(gè)亮點(diǎn)正是在全世界的巨富階層的幫助之下出現(xiàn)的,。當(dāng)時(shí)，隨著美國(guó)房?jī)r(jià)跌破記錄,，來(lái)自加拿大,、澳大利亞、中國(guó)和其他各國(guó)的海外買家發(fā)現(xiàn)美國(guó)房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)頗具投資價(jià)值,。

????美國(guó)投資者和決策者對(duì)此自然表示歡迎,，在這個(gè)國(guó)內(nèi)買家連申請(qǐng)住房抵押貸款都很困難的時(shí)刻，海外豪客很有吸引力,。他們中很多人都有能力以現(xiàn)金付款,，購(gòu)買的住宅價(jià)格通常也更高，成交速度也相對(duì)較快,，自然讓美國(guó)立法者和投資者高興,。有一陣子，兩位參議員甚至還提出一項(xiàng)法案,，想要為現(xiàn)款買房的外國(guó)買家提供美國(guó)旅游簽證,。

????可是，房地產(chǎn)信息網(wǎng)站Trulia指出,，隨著美國(guó)房?jī)r(jià)反彈,，一些早期跡象顯示，海外投資者的興趣已經(jīng)減退,。該網(wǎng)站今天發(fā)布的報(bào)告寫道,，過(guò)去一年里，這家網(wǎng)站上來(lái)自海外的搜索請(qǐng)求占總搜索次數(shù)的比例下降了近10%,。而根據(jù)房地產(chǎn)交易網(wǎng)站Zillow今天發(fā)布的報(bào)告,，第二季度全美住宅價(jià)格中位數(shù)同比上漲了0.2%，達(dá)到14.93萬(wàn)美元,，這是2007年以來(lái)首次出現(xiàn)年度上漲,。當(dāng)然，盡管該季度略有反彈,，總的來(lái)說(shuō)美國(guó)房?jī)r(jià)比2007年4月仍然下降了近24%.

????在Trulia的榜單上,，邁阿密是外國(guó)人最熱衷搜索的城市，但第二季度來(lái)自外國(guó)的搜索流量也萎縮到了15.7%,，比去年同期的16.3%顯著下降,。外國(guó)人對(duì)佛羅里達(dá)州其他地區(qū)的興趣也不如以前,，西棕櫚灘的這一比例從12.2%下降到了10.3%，珊瑚角-邁爾斯堡地區(qū)則從11.9%滑落到了10.2%.

????舊金山吸引的外國(guó)搜索流量同樣下滑,，從去年同期的9.5%降到了9.1%,；拉斯維加斯出現(xiàn)了同樣的降幅，該市房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)已于今年3月觸底,，房?jī)r(jià)已經(jīng)開始緩慢反彈,。

????聽起來(lái)似乎是好消息，房?jī)r(jià)上漲本來(lái)意味著房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)的復(fù)蘇加速,?？墒侨缃褓J款標(biāo)準(zhǔn)收緊，外國(guó)買家對(duì)廉價(jià)房地產(chǎn)的好胃口消失之后,，美國(guó)人能否填補(bǔ)這個(gè)空缺仍然是個(gè)未知數(shù),。

????誠(chéng)然，本國(guó)人民仍是美國(guó)絕大多數(shù)房地產(chǎn)的買家,，可在2007年房地產(chǎn)泡沫破滅之后房?jī)r(jià)跌幅最大的那些地區(qū),，包括佛羅里達(dá)、加利福尼亞,、亞利桑那和德克薩斯等地,，富裕的外國(guó)人抓住了機(jī)會(huì)，他們購(gòu)買的住房所占比例日益提高,?？扇缃衩绹?guó)有些地區(qū)房?jī)r(jià)重新開始上漲——盡管速度非常緩慢，海外需求也隨之趨于疲軟,。Trulia經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家杰德?柯爾克透露,，截至6月份的3個(gè)月里，外國(guó)買家貢獻(xiàn)了全美住宅銷售的4.1%,，比去年同期的4.5%有所下滑,。

????他說(shuō)：“它提醒我們，海外需求來(lái)得快去得也快,。”

????盡管Trulia的報(bào)告顯示,，美國(guó)用戶的網(wǎng)絡(luò)搜索次數(shù)增長(zhǎng)比海外用戶更快,，但這不一定說(shuō)明美國(guó)買家足以彌補(bǔ)外國(guó)買家可能將留下的空檔。許多外國(guó)人可是用現(xiàn)金付款的,，不用說(shuō),，多數(shù)美國(guó)人都沒有這么闊氣。現(xiàn)在這個(gè)光景,，要申請(qǐng)到住房抵押貸款很不容易,，盡管利率已經(jīng)漲到了3%左右,，銀行仍然不太情愿放貸。

????外國(guó)人攫取便宜美國(guó)房地產(chǎn)時(shí),，有些美國(guó)人或許心懷不滿,，可這些當(dāng)初急著鬧情緒的人現(xiàn)在或許又該急著懷念外國(guó)買家了。

????譯者：小宇

????It wasn't that long ago when it seemed foreign buyers were propping up the U.S. housing market. Just as fast, they're leaving.

????During the past few years, the world's uber rich had helped drive what little bright spots there were across America's housing market. From Canada to Australia to China and elsewhere, foreign buyers saw worthwhile investments in U.S. homes as prices plummeted to record lows.

????U.S. investors and policymakers welcomed foreign buyers, especially at a time when domestic buyers struggled to even get approved for mortgages. Many foreigners were armed with cash; they bought pricier homes, making for relatively speedier closings. U.S. lawmakers and investors welcomed them. And at one point, two senators proposed a bill that would grant U.S. tourist visas to foreign homebuyers paying with cash.

????But early signs suggest that interest from abroad has waned as U.S. home prices rise, according to Trulia. In a report released today, the residential real estate website found that online searches from abroad relative to all searches fell nearly 10% during the past year. This comes as home values nationwide rose 0.2% year-over-year to a median $149,300 during the second quarter, the first annual increase since 2007, real estate listing site Zillow reported today. Despite the rise, overall home prices are still down almost 24% since April 2007.

????Miami topped Trulia's list of most searched cities by foreigners. Traffic from abroad fizzled to 15.7% during the second quarter of this year from 16.3% the same period last year. Other parts of Florida saw interest weaken, including West Palm Beach (10.3% from 12.2%) and the Cape Coral-Ft. Myers area (10.2% from 11.9%).

????Web traffic also weakened in San Francisco, where foreign searches fell to 9.1% from 9.5% during the same period. Las Vegas saw similar declines, as the housing market hit bottom in March and prices slowly rise.

????This might sound like good news. Rising prices would suggest that the housing market's recovery has sped up. But in era of tighter lending standards, it's uncertain if Americans could make up for the fall in foreigners' lofty appetite for cheap real estate.

????To be sure, Americans still make up the vast majority of home sales. But in places that have seen the steepest declines in prices since the bust of the housing bubble in 2007, wealthy foreigners increasingly latched on to bargains in Florida, California, Arizona and Texas. But as home prices have risen, albeit very slowly in some parts of the country, foreign demand has softened. During the three months ending in June, foreigners accounted for 4.1% of home sales, a decline from 4.5% during the same period the previous year, said Jed Kolko, economist with Trulia.

????"It's a reminder that foreign demand could come and go," he said.While Trulia reports online searches by U.S. users have grown faster than those abroad, it may not necessarily suggest U.S. buyers are in any position to pick up where foreigners might leave off. Many paid in cash for their homes. Needless to say, most Americans haven't been so lucky. It's harder to get mortgage approval these days, as banks have been reluctant to lend even asinterest rates have hovered around 3%.

????Some might have turned their noses to foreigners gobbling up cheap U.S. real estate. But just as quickly as they were to judge, they might miss the interest from these buyers almost just as quickly.