According to a report published by Inman News, the influential market intelligence provider to real estate brokers and agents, Florida picked up six out of the top ten hotspots for global real estate investors.

The report further states that while many Americans have shied away from home purchases due to the economic downturn, a growing number of cash-rich foreign investors are seizing the opportunity to snap up U.S. homes at bargain prices.

The report stretches that not all U.S. markets are universally appealing to out-of-country investors, and international homebuyers activity is largely concentrated in a few areas of the country. Inman News utilized public record data compiled by San Diego-based real estate data analysis firm DataQuick, and identified the 10 most popular areas in the U.S. for foreign homebuyers.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale real estate market landed the fifth most popular position with the high influx of Brazilian, Canadian, German, Israeli, Italian, Mexican, Russian and Venezuelan real estate investors.

The majority of the markets, if not all, are recognizable as tourist destinations.

The 10 markets, ranked by highest share of foreign buyers, according to public records data, are:

 1.Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.

2.Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.

3.Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.

4.North Point-Bradenton-Sarasota, Fla.

5.Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla.

6.Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz.

7.New York County, N.Y. (Manhattan)

8.Honolulu, Hawaii.

9. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.

10.Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.

Brosda and Bentley Realtors (786) 406-1757