housing
FOREIGN BUYERS? LET’S PARK IT—WE’RE A LOCALS’ MARKET
While there will always be a contingent of market-followers that believes that non- resident (or foreign) buyers are driving Metro Vancouver’s housing market, the data continue to be unambiguous: foreign buyers account for a miniscule percentage of total residential sales in this market. In July 2019 this share was 1.2%, down from 1.6% in May and June, and down from the past-year high of 4.1% (which means that even then, resident buyers accounted for 95.9% of sales). The story is largely the same in the Fraser Valley and Victoria: in the Valley, the sample
size of sales involving foreign buyers is low enough to preclude the Ministry from providing estimates, while in Greater Victoria the foreign buyer share is 1.0%. The existence of the foreign buyer tax is one factor here, but so too are China’s capital controls. Both of these factors should keep foreign buyer participation low. That said, recent unrest in Hong Kong could result in a short-term spike, as Canadian expats and Hong Kong natives seek refuge from the current political uncertainty in that part of the world.
METRO VANCOUVER’S FOREIGN BUYER SHARE DIPS EVEN LOWER
4.1%
3.2%
3.0%
2.8%
2.8%
2.7%
2.2%
1.6%
1.6% 1.6%
1.2%
n/a JAN
n/a APR
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
FEB
MAR
MAY
JUN
JUL
2018
2019
Fraser Valley
-
1.3%
0.0%
0.8%
2.1%
-
-
-
0.0%
-
-
-
-
Victoria
-
1.4%
0.8%
1.5%
1.1%
-
-
1.6%
-
1.6%
0.8%
0.8%
1.0%
SOURCE: PROPERTY TRANSFER TAX DATA, BC MINISTRY OF FINANCE DATA: SHARE OF RESIDENTIAL PURCHASES WITH FOREIGN INVOLVEMENT
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