International real estate sales booming here

International real estate sales booming here: "International real estate sales booming here
Buyers from overseas, particularly Europe, are investing heavily in Southwest Florida.
By TOM ARTHUR

tom.arthur@heraldtribune.com

Lured by low interest rates, a weak dollar and the area's astonishing increase in home values, foreign buyers are entering the Southwest Florida real estate market in record numbers.

In Manatee County, overseas buyers accounted for 2 percent of the total sales of homes and businesses to individual property owners in 2004, the highest percentage ever recorded.

Realty firms are taking notice, hiring agents who speak multiple languages and making sure information on their Web sites can be translated into foreign languages with a mouse click."