Investment from China in Canadian Real Estate Set To Increase This Year

Investors from China are eager to purchase real estate in Canada, where foreign demand has pushed for record price gains and million-dollar homes are the norm in cities like Vancouver.

Juwai.com is a property search engine website that lists global real estate for Chinese buyers. According to the Shangai-based company, inquiries for Canadian homes on this property search website jumped 134 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 from the first quarter of 2015. This figure includes the total number of inquiries sent to the agent, developer or seller of a Canadian property posted on the website.

A survey of real estate agents who work with mainland Chinese buyers conducted by Juwai, indicated that 55 per cent anticipated international property purchases to jump as people are seeking a safe place for cash.

In Canada, cities like Vancouver and Toronto has been among the top targets for property investors from China for some time now.

According to a luxury home real estate agent in Vancouver, the average price of a home in the city increased nearly 40 per cent in five years. The real estate sales representative stated that the demand from Chinese investors is concentrated in the luxury market.

Buyers from China have purchased approximately three-quarters of the properties up for sale in West Vancouver this year. The average price of a detached home in West Vancouver costs $3.1 million.

Canada is attempting to find out how much foreign investment exists in the real estate market. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, CMHC, estimates that approximately 10 per cent of new condos purchased in downtown Toronto belong to non-residents.

Reference: The Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/…/chinese-i…/article29628005/