Strong influx of foreign home buyers observed in Montreal

This inbound flow is being driven by B.C. and Ontario’s foreign home buyers’ taxes, according to the CMHC

Strong influx of foreign home buyers observed in Montreal
CMHC data from the first half of 2017 revealed a steady trend of foreign capital holders flocking into the Montreal residential real estate market, with the number of these buyers growing by 30 per cent over the previous year.

And while this influx represented only 1.3 per cent of all home sale transactions in Montreal from January to June 2017, the CMHC noted that the phenomenon is likely being driven by an investor exodus from the 15 per cent foreign home buyers’ taxes in both Toronto and Vancouver.

“The investor profile has changed a bit,” CMHC principal market analyst Francis Cortellino told CBC News.

“There are more investors from China, where it used to be dominated by France and the United States.”

Unsal Ozdilek of the Université du Québec à Montréalor’s School of Management opined that a compelling motivator for foreigners to put roots in Montreal is the city’s enviable assets, including air and water quality and safety, while not being as ruinously expensive as other local and international markets.
 
Shanghai-based real estate broker Colin Bogar echoed these sentiments, noting an observable increase in interest in Montreal from his end, mainly because of the city’s economy, transit system, and higher education institutions. He added that this attention started to intensify even before the implementation of the taxes in Toronto and Vancouver.


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CMHC releases updated foreign buyer stats
Government intervention might be moderating runaway markets—Morneau