For more than a year, Vancouver has been a hot spot for Chinese buyers who have driven up home prices and forced the local government to put restrictions on foreign buyers in place. These seem to have worked as Juwai.com reported inquires from Chinese buyers fell 81 percent in August when compared to last year.
However, it looks as if those investors have simply headed south to nearby Seattle, which reported a significant spike in interest from China. It was rated the number one city in North America for inquiries on Juwai.com with inquiries for homes shooting up by 143 percent.
Sharing similar weather and a large Asian expat community, the cities are rather similar despite being in different countries. Another Canadian location, Toronto, reported a staggering 142 percent increase in inquires during August highlighting the fact that some Chinese buyers aren’t ready to give up on Canada just yet despite being thwarted in Vancouver. However, the fun in Toronto may be short lived.
In a column for the Financial Post, former Canadian finance minister Joe Oliver urged the Ontario government to charge a 15 percent tax on non-residents and foreigners acquiring residential property in certain Greater Toronto Area communities.
“Increased foreign buying is going to exacerbate an overheated real estate market, to the detriment of all Torontonians and at risk to the broader economy,” he said in the piece.
Image: The city of Toronto, Canada via www.instagram.com/cityofto
This story was originally published on Property-report.com.
