Marie Schutt is the managing editor of Chicago Agent

When we first started talking about “the state of international buyers in Chicago” at Chicago Agent, our questions were all over the map. Who’s investing in local real estate from across the pond? What’s happening in their home country prompting them to buy elsewhere? More importantly, what draws them to the greater Chicagoland area? And what role do they play in the local market?

According to NAR, the amount international buyers have spent on homes in Chicago increased by 13 percent in the 12-month period leading up to August 2015, and the number of agents reporting working with a buyer from another country is up 7 percent over the same time period. We spoke with a few such agents for our cover story, which explores foreign buyers’ motivations, how those buyers find their local agents, the competitive advantages multilingual agents enjoy, the appeal of Chicago’s residential real estate market and much more.

Speaking of the allure of Chicagoland real estate, don’t miss our latest installment of Real Data, which is freshly updated with Chicagoland’s top agent and brokerage production numbers for Q3. Head over to chicago.staging312.com/real-data to see some truly impressive numbers.