Kamal Ghorui
New research by the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) has reignited the debate over the ownership of the ‘American Dream’ among residents in USA, leading to heavy criticism of the H-1B visa online along with calls to stop the initiative altogether. As per the March 2026 report titled ‘How to Stop Foreign Buyers From Killing the American Dream of Homeownership’, between April 2024 and March 2025, foreigners purchased more than 78,000 American homes. Between 2024 and 2025, foreign buyers spent a whopping $56 billion on US homes, 33% more than they did in the previous year, said the report, adding that foreign homebuying is becoming more common with every passing year. A major concern raised in the report is the widening gap in purchasing powers. Nearly half of the buyers sealed the deal with all-cash offers, which as per the author of the paper, Paige Terryberry, is something young Americans and middle-class families can not compete with. Only 29% of American buyers are all-cash, with only 8% of first-time buyers offering all-cash.
Who are these foreign buyers? Leading the list are Chinese nationals, who purchased one in six homes and in 2025, spent $13.7 billion on American homes. This is followed by 14% Canadian buyers who spent $6.2 billion and 8% Mexican buyers who spent $4.4 billion. Fourth in the list were 6% Indian buyers spending $2.2 billion on American abodes. More than 60% of these purchases are detached single-family homes bought and 60% of the non-resident buyers intend to use the homes for rental investments or as vacation homes. While China topped the list, social media discourse quickly targeted Indian buyers for increasing the cost of housing and interest for American families looking to buy homes in their own country while also facing heavy competition from foreign buyers. “It’s true. The vast majority of new home sales in North Texas have been from Middle Easterners and Indians. Entire neighbourhoods look foreign. I know because I’m in one and see it in all of the neighbourhoods around me,” wrote one user on X. “So stop bringing in H-1Bs and foreign students to our Universities,” called another. “2 major groups of foreigners are buying land & homes in TX. Muslims funded by outside groups to build Muslim enclaves & Indians who take advantage of loopholes/loans. Then they sell or lease to their own groups. They have anchor babies & order the US birth certificates immediately for proof of citizenship. They know what they are doing,” claimed another enraged netizen. Akin to the report, numerous netizens called for the administration and lawmakers to prioritise Americans in homeownership policy by banning or taxing foreigners. The findings and call out also form part under a larger agitation against immigrants buying homes in USA. Previously, a post claiming 35,000 Indian-American families were living in Forsyth County in Georgia had garnered similar reactions from the online community, highlighting a rising bias against Indian-Americans.
