Canadian retiree Sheldon Kovensky felt the lure that attracts so many foreign buyers to sunny Florida these days - falling prices for luxurious oceanfront condos that can be bought with weak US dollars.

Mr Kovensky has been scouring south Florida from Miami Beach to Palm Beach in search of a three-bedroom apartment on the sand. Armed with a Canadian dollar that has gained 25 per cent against the greenback in the last two years, he is expecting a big bargain.

"We're hoping to get an apartment worth about a $1million that I can purchase for about 20 per cent less," he said by phone from his home in Unionville, Ontario, as he faced digging out from a snowstorm.

"The Canadian dollar is on par and the Florida market has dropped 20 to 30 per cent, so you get a lot of bang for your buck," he added.

Realtors, analysts and buyers say the strength of the Canadian dollar, the euro and other foreign currencies, on top of a falling real estate market, is making the US an enticing place for foreigners looking to buy property.

In fact, they say, the combination of the weak dollar and the allure of Miami as a cosmopolitan, multilingual city may be helping to prop up a faltering, overbuilt condo market that had been expected to crash but has seen, to date, only a small drop in prices compared to other Florida cities.

In a study by the National Association of Realtors last year, Florida was the top destination for foreign buyers, accounting for 26 per cent of all transactions, ahead of California at 16, Texas at 10 and Arizona at six per cent.

More than seven percent of all Florida homes were sold to foreigners, the study found, and 65 per cent of realtors said they had brokered at least one foreign deal.