From the Coconut Coast to Rio: Why CCOR’s Global Reach Matters for Southwest Florida REALTORS®

There is a reason Florida real estate keeps showing up at international events thousands of miles from the Gulf Coast.

International buyers purchased an estimated $10.4 billion in Florida residential real estate during the 12 months from August 2024 through July 2025. They purchased approximately 16,400 Florida homes, a 50% increase from the previous reporting period. Nationally, Florida remained the No. 1 U.S. destination for foreign homebuyers, attracting 21% of international purchasers. (Florida Realtors)

And Brazil is not a fringe market within those numbers.

Brazil ranked third among Florida's international buyer markets in 2025, accounting for 7% of international residential purchases. Brazilian buyers also ranked third by dollar volume, purchasing approximately $762 million in Florida residential property during the reporting period. (Florida Realtors)

That is the backdrop behind CCOR's latest international outreach.

In August, 2026 CCOR President Jeanne Drath and Treasurer Gina Lamouth traveled to Rio de Janeiro to represent the Coconut Coast Organization of REALTORS® at CIMI360, alongside Florida REALTORS® and other Florida real estate organizations.

For CCOR, the value of that trip extends well beyond having a booth in Brazil.

Rio Became a Global Real Estate Meeting Place

CIMI360 was held August 27–28 at Riocentro in Rio de Janeiro and brought together real estate professionals from Brazil, Latin America and markets around the world. Florida REALTORS® participated with a booth alongside local REALTOR® associations and partners. (Florida Realtors)

According to the Regional Council of Realtors of Rio de Janeiro, or CRECI-RJ, the 2026 event drew more than 8,000 real estate professionals from more than 40 countries. CRECI-RJ also reported approximately R$650 million in business activity connected to the event. (CRECI-RJ)

For two days, that put CCOR representatives in an environment built around international relationships: brokers meeting brokers, markets introducing themselves to new audiences, and professionals exchanging information about investment, development and cross-border real estate.

That matters because international real estate is often a relationship business long before it becomes a transaction.

Florida REALTORS® reports that 65% of Florida's international buyers came through personal or business referrals, former clients, or were themselves former clients. (Florida Realtors)

That statistic may be one of the clearest explanations for why associations invest time in global events.

The connection made in Rio this year may not become a Southwest Florida closing next week. It may instead become a Brazilian broker who now knows someone in Southwest Florida, a future referral partner, a source of market information, or a professional who can connect a client with a CCOR member several years from now.

Global real estate tends to reward relationships built before they are needed.

Brazil Is Already an Important Florida Market

The numbers make Brazil particularly relevant.

Those figures come from Florida REALTORS®' 2025 Profile of International Residential Transactions in Florida, covering transactions from August 2024 through July 2025. (Florida Realtors)

Brazil's presence is even stronger in some Florida markets.

Brazilian purchasers represented approximately 16% of international buyers in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford market, 9% in Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, and 7% in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach. (Florida Realtors Report)

That 9% share in the Naples metro is especially relevant for CCOR members whose businesses increasingly cross the Lee-Collier line.

It also illustrates an important point about global business: international demand is not confined to Miami.

Southwest Florida Is Already Part of the International Market

Florida's latest international buyer data place two Southwest Florida metropolitan areas among the state's six most common destinations for international purchasers.

Cape Coral–Fort Myers accounted for 8% of Florida's international purchases, while Naples–Immokalee–Marco Island accounted for another 6%. (Florida Realtors)

Together, those numbers make international real estate something much closer to home than the word "global" may suggest.

The individual countries also vary dramatically by market.

In Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Canada accounted for 41% of international purchases—but Germany accounted for another 22%.

In Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Canada represented 52% and Brazil 9%. (Florida Realtors Report)

That is why CCOR's global strategy is not centered on a single country.

Brazil matters.
Germany matters.
Canada matters.
The United Kingdom and other European and Latin American markets matter too.

Different markets create different pathways into Southwest Florida.

A Global Strategy That Started Long Before Brazil

Rio is the newest chapter, not the beginning.

CCOR's Global Business Council—established while the organization operated as Bonita Springs-Estero REALTORS®—has spent several years building international education, partnerships and professional connections.

That work has received national recognition for five consecutive years:

• 2021 — Silver
• 2022 — Gold
• 2023 — Gold
• 2024 — Platinum
• 2025 — Platinum

NAR's Platinum Global Achievement Award represents the highest level in its Global Business Council Achievement Program. In 2024, BER was one of only 11 local REALTOR® associations nationwide reported by the association as receiving Platinum recognition. (Coconut Coast Realtors)

But awards are only one measurement of the program.

The association has also created educational programming designed to help members understand global transactions, including Certified International Property Specialist coursework addressing cultural awareness, currency issues, foreign-national financing, tax considerations and cross-border transaction practices. (Coconut Coast Realtors)

And the network has been increasingly international itself.

London, Jamaica, Spain—and Relationships Across Borders

CCOR's overseas engagement has taken several forms.

In 2025, then-BER CEO Meighan Harris participated in a Florida REALTORS® delegation in London, where Florida professionals connected with overseas brokers and promoted Florida markets to international real estate professionals. (Florida REALTORS® London Mission)

BER also established a partnership with the Realtors Association of Jamaica, followed by programming including a Global Exchange with the Jamaican association in August 2025. (Coconut Coast Realtors)

Another international milestone came during a 2025 trade mission to Alicante, Spain, where then-BER Vice President Fawn Estes signed a memorandum of understanding with Provia, formalizing cross-border cooperation alongside representatives from the Long Island Board of REALTORS®. (LIBOR Trade Mission Records)

And Germany represents another reason these connections matter locally even apart from any one event: German buyers accounted for 22% of international residential purchases in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro in Florida REALTORS®' latest report. (Florida Realtors Report)

Brazil, London, Jamaica, Spain, Germany and other international markets are different pieces of the same strategy: create more places around the world where someone knows Southwest Florida—and knows who to call here.

What Does This Actually Do for a CCOR Member?

That is the most important question.

The purpose of global outreach is not simply to say that the association travels internationally. Its value comes from what those relationships can eventually make possible for members.

Florida's International Market Is Rebounding

There is also a timing component to CCOR's work.

Florida's international market went through a significant slowdown following the post-pandemic real estate boom. International purchasers bought only about 10,900 Florida homes in the previous reporting period.

The latest estimate climbed to approximately 16,400, while international residential dollar volume increased from $7.1 billion to $10.4 billion. (Florida Realtors)

That does not mean every international market is booming, nor does it guarantee continued growth.

High property prices, currency fluctuations, insurance costs, interest rates and global economic uncertainty continue to influence international purchasing decisions.

But it does indicate that international participation in Florida real estate has strengthened again.

And Southwest Florida is receiving a meaningful portion of that activity.

Bringing the Coconut Coast to the World—and the World Back Home

A photograph of CCOR representatives standing behind a booth in Rio tells only part of the story.

Behind it is a broader network being built one relationship at a time.

That network now stretches through Brazil, the United Kingdom, Jamaica, Spain and other markets, while CCOR continues offering global education and connections from its home in Southwest Florida.

Not every conversation overseas will become a transaction.

That is not the expectation.

The value is creating opportunities that otherwise may never reach this market: a referral, an introduction, insight into a new buyer group, a trusted professional abroad, or simply another person who leaves an international event knowing where the Coconut Coast is.

For CCOR's members, that is ultimately what global representation is designed to bring home.

More connections. More knowledge. More pathways to opportunity.

And when the next international buyer begins looking at Florida, CCOR wants Southwest Florida—and a local REALTOR®—to already be part of the conversation.