Foreign real estate is not a foreign financial asset required to be reported on Form 8938, if you are the direct owner of it.  So, a personal residence or a rental property outside of the United States does not need to be reported on this form.

However, if the real estate is owned by a foreign entity, such as a corporation, partnership, or trust and you have an interest in that entity, the percentage of ownership is reportable on Form 8938.  The value of the real estate held by the entity is used to determining the value of the shares to be reported on Form 8938, but the real estate itself is not separately reported on Form 8938.

All of this is to say that, if you purchase foreign real estate in your name, without an entity, you do not need to include that asset on Form 8938…but be careful, there are a number of other taxable and reportable events, few are listed below. 

1. First, all rental income must be reported on your personal return (Form 1040 and Schedule E), regardless of the amount and regardless of whether you are required to file Form 8938. In most cases, reporting your rental property on Schedule E will create a loss, and thereby reduce your US taxes. For more information on this and taking depreciation on international real estate.
2. If you open a foreign bank account to facilitate the purchase of the property or the receipt of rental income, and that account has more than $10,000 in it on any one day of the year, then you must report the bank account on US Treasury Form TD F 90-22.1, commonly referred to as the FBAR or Foreign Bank Account Report.

Refer IRS website (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8938.pdf) for form I8938 instruction.