December 8th, 2015 – According to CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation), the cities of Vancouver, Toronto and Winnipeg are showing a steep increase in the number of foreign purchasers in 2015.
In a recent report, CMHC states that foreign buyers owned 3.5% of condos in Vancouver in 2015 up from 2.3% the preceding year. In Toronto, the rate of foreign ownership has increased to 3.3 percent this year, from 2.4 percent last year.
In Winnipeg, alien co-owners presently own 2.7% of the condos. In 2014, this percentage was only 0.1%. The figures show that Montréal stands alone in this market niche; 1.5% in 2014 and 1.3% in 2015. To collect this data, CMHC canvasses real-estate managers. The question asked is the following: in the buildings under your management, how many units are owned by persons which have a permanent residence outside Canada?
These significant increases in many large Canadian cities are of concern, more particularly in British-Columbia, where there is a fear that wealthy investor’s drive-up the price of Vancouver homes, to the point where they could become unaffordable to locals. Some observers pointed out that the market could collapse, if a large proportion of these investors decided to unload their units.
On its part, CMHC is of the view that it needs more information about the motivations behind these investments. Among the reasons alluded to, some purchasers may be buying a condo as a dwelling for their family, to rent them out for a certain period of time, or for the purpose of reselling them for a profit.
Montreal, December 8th, 2015
Source: 98, 5 FM
