For years, Vancouver has attracted a large number of foreign buyers, especially from Asia, thanks to its beautiful coastlines and mountains, good schools and relatively affordable luxury housing.
Though strong inflow of foreign capital dropped sharply after the government imposed an extra 15% tax on them last August, there are signs that foreign ownership in Vancouver has stabilized and even slightly improved.
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Foreigner buyers, who are neither identified as a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident, purchased 199 homes in May, with a combined value of C$179 million (about US$138 million), making up 3% of both metrics, according to data released Wednesday by Ministry of Finance of British Columbia.
By comparison, foreigners bought 105 homes in April, taking up 2.5% of total residential transactions in Vancouver, arguably Canada’s hottest real estate market.
The percentage of foreign buyers remained steadily at 2.5% to 4% following the introduction of the extra 15% foreign buyers’ transfer tax. Prior to that, foreign nationals accounted for 13.2% of all buyers in June and July. Their investment took up 16.5% of the total value of residential transactions during those two months.
The government started collecting foreign buyer data in June and announced the market-cooling measures targeted at foreign investors two months later.
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During the last 12 months leading up to May, foreigners bought 3,045 homes in Metro Vancouver, accounting for 5.8% of the total number of property transactions. The total foreign investment amounted to C$3.27 billion (US$2.51 billion), representing 7.1% of the cumulative residential transactions.
| Foreign Buyers in Metro Vancouver | ||||
| Timeframe | # of Property | % of transfers | Foreign Investment | % of value |
| June 10-August 1, 2016 | 1,974 | 13.2% | C$2.32 billion | 16.5% |
| August 2-Dec. 31, 2016 | 664 | 2.6% | C$577.6 million | 2.6% |
| April 1-30, 2017 | 105 | 2.5% | C$117.1 million | 3.2% |
| May 1-31, 2017 | 199 | 3.0% | C$179.2 million | 3.1% |
| June 10, 2016-May 31, 2017 | 3,045 | 5.8% | C$3.27 billion | 7.1% |
| Source: Ministry of Finance, British Columbia | ||||
At the provincial level, the share of foreign buyers over the last 12 months stood at 4.2%, investing a total of C$4.3 billion (US$3.3 billion) in residential properties. In terms of cumulative value, three quarters of foreign investment in British Columbia went into Metro Vancouver.
Meanwhile, there were 75 homes priced from C$1 million to C$3 million (US$770,000 to US$2.3 million) sold to foreigners throughout the province in May, compared to 36 in January. However, it was still far off from the peak 460 recorded in July 2016.
Foreigners bought 13 homes priced over C$3 million in May, compared to 10 in January and 95 in July 2016, data showed.