Florida remained the top destination for foreign buyers buying U.S. residential real estate in 2018, according to new data published by Florida Realtors. Nineteen percent of all foreign buyers who bought residential property in the United States bought property in Florida, according to the report. International sales have accounted for $22.9 billion in transactions this year, down 5.4 percent from the 2017 figure of $24.2 billion. Of all Florida's international sales, just 5 percent took place in the North Point-Sarasota-Bradenton region, behind Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach (54 percent), Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford (9 percent) and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (9 percent).