A new Texas law restricting certain foreign buyers from purchasing real estate has had a significant impact on the state’s property market, particularly among Chinese investors. Senate Bill 17, which went into effect on September 1, prohibits individuals and companies from countries designated as threats to U.S. national security—including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea—from buying real estate in Texas unless they are citizens or lawful permanent residents.
Tonya Li, a Sotheby’s agent in Austin who has worked with Chinese clients for nearly ten years, described the immediate effect of the legislation on her business. “I lost pretty much 50 percent of my work due to this,” Li said.
The law has not only barred some purchases but also deterred others that remain legal. Li noted that many of her clients are parents of University of Texas students—Chinese nationals make up the largest group of international enrollees at the university—who purchase properties as future assets for their children. “Parents are buying the properties as future assets for their children who actually go to school in the United States,” she said. “None of my clients are close to national security.”
According to Texas Realtors, most residential purchases by foreign buyers involve detached single-family homes, with about half intending to use them as primary residences.
Although lawful residents and citizens from China can still buy land under SB 17, Li said uncertainty is pushing away potential buyers. “To a lot of them, it is a sign that tells them that the Texas government does not like foreign investors,” she said. “They’re panicking.” Some existing owners have started selling their properties amid concerns about possible future restrictions: “They are worried about — what if, two years later, there is going to be a new law coming out?” Li added.
Commercial real estate brokers observed similar trends ahead of SB 17’s implementation date.
Between April 2024 and March 2025, Chinese nationals were responsible for $13.7 billion in U.S. property purchases and accounted for 15 percent of all foreign buyer activity nationwide. In Texas during this period, Mexico was the top source country for foreign buyers at nearly one-third; China tied with Canada for second place at eight percent each (https://www.texasrealestate.com/research/texas-international-homebuyers-report/).
USDA data shows Chinese investors own more agricultural land in Texas than other countries named in SB 17—about 150,000 acres across thirty-five parcels as of last year.
Concerns over large-scale Chinese land ownership grew after reports emerged about Sun Guangxin’s holdings near Laughlin Air Force Base in Val Verde County (https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/21/china-texas-land-sun-guangxin-legislation/). Guangxin planned a wind farm project on his property but faced legislative pushback through laws such as the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act aimed at keeping critical infrastructure out of reach from entities linked to China and other adversarial nations.
Dallas Barrington—a real estate attorney who opposed Guangxin’s development—said: “He’s got all of his stuff up for sale currently, every damn bit of it. And everybody I’ve talked to says he wants out. And, God bless, we all need to help him get out.”
Barrington believes SB 17’s national security aims justify its economic consequences: “it’s not a NIMBY bill.”
Enforcement may prove challenging due to gaps in public records; deed registries typically do not include an owner’s nationality or immigration status (https://www.recenter.tamu.edu/articles/tierra-grande/Texas-Land-Ownership-Foreigners). Indirect ownership through LLCs further complicates tracking origins.
“Deed documents are registered with counties, but counties don’t control property titles. They merely register the documents that evidence property title,” Gerald Klassen from the Texas Real Estate Research Center told lawmakers last year.
As such, determining owner nationality remains difficult without systematic state procedures—something yet unaddressed by state authorities.
SB 17 includes strict penalties: illicitly acquired properties must be sold off with violators facing state jail felonies; proceeds cover enforcement costs before any payout returns to offenders.
From April 2024 through March 2025 roughly 78,000 foreign buyers purchased U.S. residential property overall; Texas ranked third among states behind California and Florida (https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/research-reports/profile-of-international-transactions-in-u-s-residential-real-estate).
