Ephraim Vecina
The Vancouver Sun
A recent survey by Royal LePage revealed that a significant proportion of real estate advisors in Canada’s metropolitan areas believe that approximately 25 per cent of the country’s luxury properties have been purchased by foreigners.
Pointing at the intensified flow of overseas capital into the Canadian housing sector, around 60 per cent of the survey respondents are expecting far greater sales and investment volume from foreigners this year.
“What we’re noticing of course is a radical increase in foreign buyers,” Toronto-based agent Diane Usher told CBC News, adding that this segment has fully upended the market—which traditionally relied on wealthy domestic investors.
To date, no official national figures on foreign ownership are available, and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is currently collaborating with other concerned agencies to trace the path of the money being funneled into the country.
Some industry professionals argued that pinning the blame on foreign buyers instead of addressing the housing sector’s fundamental affordability problem is a misguided mindset.
“And what better reason than a nameless, faceless person from another country,” Toronto-based agent and blogger David Fleming said.
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