Foreign Direct Investment in the Los Angeles Real Estate Market

Abstract

The growing globalization of domestic housing markets has led to the rise of foreign investment in real estate; however, foreign investment in real estate has strong potential to impact domestic citizens. Past research alludes to foreign investment impacting housing prices, employment rates, and homelessness in varying ways depending on the affected demographic. This study utilizes data from the 2010 and 2020 U.S. Census’ to analyze how foreign investment impacts housing prices, employment rates, and homelessness rates in zip codes of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Furthermore, a comparison is drawn between how these elements have changed in the past decade as a result of the extent of foreign presence in the area. Ultimately, this paper deduces that housing prices rise, employment and homelessness rates fall, and homelessness rates change negligibly as a result of foreign investment in the Los Angeles area.