Sotheby’s real estate agent Tonya Li has seen a significant decline in her business following the implementation of Texas Senate Bill 17, which restricts certain foreign buyers from owning real estate in the state. The law, effective September 1, prohibits people and companies from countries designated as threats to U.S. national security—including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea—from purchasing property in Texas unless they are citizens or lawful permanent residents.
“I lost pretty much 50 percent of my work due to this,” Li said.
Li noted that the impact of the law extends beyond those it directly targets. “The law has chilled foreign purchases that it doesn’t outlaw,” she said. Many of her clients are parents of Chinese students at the University of Texas, who have historically purchased properties as investments for their children studying in the United States. “Parents are buying the properties as future assets for their children who actually go to school in the United States,” Li 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 half intending to use them as primary residences.
Although lawful residents and citizens from China can still buy land under SB 17, Li observed a broader hesitancy among Chinese 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 have begun selling their properties out of concern about potential 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 also reported increased caution among Chinese clients before SB 17 took effect.
Between April 2024 and March 2025, Chinese buyers accounted for 15 percent of all foreign purchasers in the United States and contributed $13.7 billion in value during that period. In Texas specifically, Mexico was the top source country for foreign buyers (almost one-third), while China tied with Canada at eight percent each.
Chinese investors hold more agricultural land in Texas than other countries named in SB 17; USDA data shows that as of 2023, Chinese individuals or companies owned over 150,000 acres across 35 parcels. Iranian entities owned two parcels totaling 200 acres; neither Russian nor North Korean entities reported holdings.
SB 17 follows earlier legislative efforts aimed at restricting land ownership by nationals from certain countries after reports surfaced regarding Sun Guangxin—a Chinese businessman with about 140,000 acres near Laughlin Air Force Base—who planned a wind farm on part of his holdings. In response to such developments, Texas passed the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act to prevent businesses linked to these countries from accessing critical infrastructure like electricity grids.
Real estate attorney Dallas Barrington led opposition against Guangxin’s project and noted its sale signals waning optimism among affected investors: “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 said.
Barrington supports SB 17’s national security aims despite possible economic drawbacks: “It’s not a NIMBY bill.”
Enforcement may prove challenging due to limited information collected by American deed records on owners’ nationality or immigration status and widespread use of LLCs or other entities obscuring ownership origins. Gerald Klassen from the Texas Real Estate Research Center explained last year: “Deed documents are registered with counties, but counties don’t control property titles. They merely register the documents that evidence property title.” He added that there is no systematic way for Texas authorities to determine property owners’ nationality.
SB 17 includes penalties such as forced sales and possible felony charges for violators but leaves investigation responsibilities with the state attorney general’s office—which has not clarified how it will implement these measures.
National Association of Realtors data indicates approximately 78,000 foreign buyers purchased U.S. residential property between April 2024 and March 2025; Texas accounted for ten percent—ranking third behind California (15 percent) and Florida (21 percent).
