Bill Seeks To Entice Foreigners To Buy U.S. Homes With Visa Offer

[abelenkpe]

Bill Seeks To Entice Foreigners To Buy U.S. Homes With Visa Offer

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/visa-house-real-estate_n_1021582.html

The government may turn to foreigners to shore up the weak housing market.

A bill co-authored by Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) aims to use the appeal of U.S. residence visas to entice foreigners to buy American homes, according to The Wall Street Journal. If passed, the bill would offer a U.S. residence visa to any foreigner who makes a cash investment of at least $500,000 in U.S. residential real estate.

"This is a way to create more demand without costing the federal government a nickel," Schumer told the WSJ.

Foreign demand for American homes has been growing as prospective American buyers remain skittish. Foreign purchases of U.S. residential real estate rose 24 percent to $82 billion in the year ending in March 2011 compared to the year before, according to the National Association of Realtors.

(more at link)

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US salaries don't support home prices (especially here in LA) so let's get foreign investors to buy them? No attempt to either raise salaries or lower home prices?