Canada to Begin Studying Foreign Homebuyers' Habits in Vancouver, Toronto
Posted on Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 10:26 AM, by Ana Ferrer, under
Real Estate
The Canadian government formally announced that they will begin studying the habits and practices of foreign homebuyers who are scooping up homes in hot markets like Vancouver and Toronto,
Financial Review reported.
Statistics Canada
The government stated that in fiscal year 2017 it has allotted C$500,000 to specifically look at foreign ownership levels in the country's housing markets. Statistics Canada will be conducting the research on behalf of the Canadian government.
The big cities in Canada have been the target for second and third homes for wealthy offshore buyers, in the same way that Melbourne and Sydney's suburbs were the focus for Chinese homebuyers.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau said, "Currently it is not possible to fully understand the role of foreign homebuyers in Canada's housing market since a comprehensive and reliable data set on the number of homes sold to foreign homebuyers does not exist."
The money will be granted to Statistics Canada over this year and next year and they will work with the provinces where Chinese home investors have previously targeted.