Falling home prices may be plaguing the US economy, but they are candy to foreign investors, who already have a weak dollar on their side.

Buyers from overseas spent roughly $41 billion on US residential real estate last year, a bump up from the previous year. US real estate agents report a surge this Spring especially, as foreign buyers see continued pressure on home prices and ample bargains.

“I don’t think they’re so concerned about the prices dropping as they are about getting value for their money,” says Rick Ambrose, a Coldwell Banker agent in Lake Mohawk, NJ.

Ambrose and his colleague Mary Pat Spekhardt recently hosted two groups of Japanese investors searching for homes on the scenic lake just about an hour outside of New York City.

“They can work here, be close to the city, be close to their corporations and still feel like they’re on vacation. I think that’s really what grabbed everybody. That’s what got them,” says Spekhardt.

The group of about 35 from Japan also toured properties in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, which are more popular choices among foreign investors.

A new survey by Trulia.com that tracks searches from potential foreign buyers found LA ranked number one in potential interest traffic, trailed by New York City, Cape Coral, Fl, Fort Lauderdale, FL and Las Vegas.

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Condo sales in Miami were up 134 percent in January year-over-year, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. That’s not a typo.

“The Miami market continues to outperform the rest of the nation mostly due to the strong impact of international buyers and record affordability,” said Jack H. Levine, Chairman of the of the MAR. International buyers, low prices, and the weak dollar are certainly pushing the sales, but with those sales is coming a new phenomenon not seen since the housing boom.

Yes, prices for condos are down 36 percent annually to a median price of $91,200, but those prices are beginning to stabilize, despite the fact that there are about 3600 vacant units on the market in downtown Miami alone. Huh? How do prices stabilize with a three to four year supply??

“I think the way you get prices going up is by artificial price setting,” claims Peter Zalewski, principal at Condo Vultures, a real estate sales and consulting firm.

“I’m not going to use the C word, collusion, but there’s a certain price mechanism that all of the owners are starting to abide by and adhere to.”

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