How has housing investors' influence changed?

A “sudden influx” of investors supported the rapid price gains seen in 2021, with the momentum expected to last for much of this year, according to Bank of Canada deputy governor Paul Beaudry.

Investors have accounted for 19% of home purchases since 2014, while repeat buyers have represented 31%. Combined, these cohorts held parity with first-time buyers’ market share (50%), the central bank said.

“Our analysis finds that many Canadians are buying homes as investment properties – that is, in addition to their principal residence – and the importance of this phenomenon has grown,” Beaudry said in a recent speech to the Ontario Securities Commission.

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Investors’ market influence particularly surged over the last few years, the BoC said. The number of investor purchases grew by 99.39% annually in 2021, compared to the 66.11% upswing in repeat purchases and the 46.94% gain in first-time purchases, the central bank said.

“While purchases from all three groups have seen a rapid increase during the COVID‑19 pandemic, this is most pronounced for investors,” the BoC said. “The last time growth in the investor category outstripped that of first-time or repeat homebuyers was in 2017 – during a period of exceptionally strong house price gains in Toronto and surrounding areas.”